The meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs, to be held today and tomorrow, will focus primarily on challenges from the southern front, partnerships and NATO-EU cooperation. Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Paolo Gentiloni, will attend the meeting.
Discussions about strengthening cooperation between NATO and the European Union are centred first on combating hybrid challenges, in accordance with the Strategy on Hybrid Warfare approved at the Foreign Ministers’ Meeting last December. The asymmetric and multidimensional nature of these challenges from the southern front (terrorism, fragility of State bodies, illegal trafficking, etc.) requires a set of integrated actions to be taken by national and international bodies together.
Today’s summit is the penultimate political meeting (followed in mid-June by the meeting of Defence Ministers) before the Summit of Heads of State and Government in Warsaw on 8-9 July this year. The meeting will begin with the signing of the Protocol of Accession of Montenegro to NATO. This will be followed by the first session dedicated to Projecting Stability and to the Mediterranean, with reference also to the Libyan situation. In the evening, discussions will centre on Russia and policies regarding Eastern neighbours. The meeting on 20 May will focus on NATO-EU relations, in the presence of EU High Representative Federica Mogherini. The day will end with a session on the potential continuation of the military commitment to the Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan.
