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Minister Antonio Tajani’s telephone conversation with the new NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte

This afternoon, the Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Antonio Tajani, had a first telephone conversation with the new Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte.

The phone call enabled the main issues at the heart of the Organisation’s agenda to be addressed. “I reiterated to Secretary Rutte the Italian government’s commitment to providing military and financial support to Ukraine, also in the context of the G7 Presidency. We shall stand by Kyiv until a just peace is achieved,” said Tajani. Strong concern was expressed by the Minister over reports of the presence of North Korean troops on the Ukrainian front, which pose a further strategic challenge to European security, with the risk of yet another escalation in the conflict.

In reaffirming the need to strengthen cooperation between NATO and the EU, the Deputy Prime Minister expressed Italy’s full support for the adaptation of NATO’s posture, as aimed at strengthening the Allies’ ability to meet the threats and challenges in the Euro-Atlantic area, also with reference to the new hybrid and cyber threats. “We are at the forefront in supporting the Atlantic Alliance’s action in the North-Eastern Flank, the Balkans, and Iraq. At the same time, the instability in the Sahel and the conflict in the Middle East call for strengthening dialogue and cooperation with the Southern Partners and giving concrete implementation to the Action Plan for the Southern Neighbourhood, which was adopted at the Washington Summit,” said the Minister.

Secretary General Rutte and Minister Tajani also addressed the situation in Georgia and expressed concern about the irregularities in the OSCE-ODHIR report on the electoral process.

Tajani and Rutte finally agreed to discuss these issues in more detail at the NATO Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in December, where they will also meet to address topics of particular interest to Italy, such as NATO’s projection in the Mediterranean and the ways in which the allies will have to address the issues of the “Southern Front” in the coming years.

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