Gentiloni: «Europe must change now or Schengen’s in jeopardy» (Messaggero)
ROME «The issue of immigration threatens to bring out the worst in Europe, amid member state egoisms, disparate decision-making and polemics. I’m worried. It is going to be on this question that Europe either rediscovers its soul or else truly loses it». According to Minister for Foreign Affairs Paolo Gentiloni there has to be agreement, […]
Read moreGentiloni: «Libya, immediate accord or we’ll be facing another Somalia» (La Stampa)
Migrants continue to die in the Mediterranean – there is talk of up to 2500 victims since the start of the year. Minister Gentiloni, what are we doing and what can we do? «We have had a record number of arrivals this year, but also a record number of rescues. Unfortunately, no matter how much […]
Read more“People are engaging in demagoguery over the corpses in the sea but Italy is not driven by self-interest”, says Gentiloni (Repubblica)
“People peddling demagoguery against the migrants are not solving anything. And luckily most Italians aren’t being taken in by them. But I don’t want to get into political arguments”. On the day when the photos of the ‘dots in the sea’ are hitting the front pages of the international press after the umpteenth disaster in […]
Read moreGentiloni: «Accord with Tripoli is possible» (Nazione-Carlino-Giorno)
“Libya’s destiny depends on the Libyans. If a negotiated agreement is not reached, stability cannot be imposed from the outside. Our objective is to encourage an accord in any case; we are ready to lend a hand at every level, from the economy to security, and we are also prepared use individual sanctions to isolate […]
Read moreGentiloni: “Libyan bank should stop funds to those who oppose peace” (Corriere della Sera)
“I believe that the offensive launched by Turkey against ISIS in northern Syria is important. The risk of Ankara’s involvement in the anti-Daesh [ISIS, editor’s note] coalition overlapping with the internal dynamics of the Kurdish question has existed for months. The Turkish authorities have not only reacted to the Daesh attacks but also granted the […]
Read moreGentiloni: «Athens is to blame, not the Germans. Time now to avoid EU exit» (Corriere della Sera)
«The situation has not been resolved with the Greek referendum’s “NO” victory. I understand the Syriza voters’ celebrations, a bit less the Italian cheering section. The vote established that Tsipras has the support of the majority of Greeks, but this is not the solution. It is now time for Greece and the EU to set […]
Read moreGentiloni: “The great challenge of global terrorism” (l’Unità)
“Black Friday”, with terrorist attacks in Tunisia, France and Kuwait did not spring from an order from a terrorist super-HQ. Not a single, unified command but a single crisis links the episodes of that day and requires a global approach to tackling the challenge. This is particularly true for Italy, which through geography and history […]
Read more“We can only fight terror if we’re united”, says Gentiloni (Il Messaggero)
“To combat terrorism, we need to be united. Including the political forces, and by working with the representatives of over 1.2 million Italian Muslims who have every interest in isolating and defeating the small fundamentalist minorities who support the terrorists”. Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni is analysing the global offensive of terror, from Tunisia to Somalia, […]
Read moreGentiloni: “The nay-saying countries are short-sighted” (La Stampa)
“All of this reluctance to accept the European Commission’s immigration plan seems short-sighted to me”. Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni has always taken a cautious approach and avoided any show of triumphalism even when – in mid-May – Italy could have claimed the transformation of the immigration dossier into a shared, European dossier, as a national […]
Read moreGentiloni: «Dialogue with Putin but Italy remains at the side of Western allies» (Corriere della Sera)
I believe that Russia needs reassuring on one point, and that is that Ukraine’s entry into NATO is not a realistic possibility; but that NATO will defend its borders is in the organisation’s nature. We must take note of President Putin’s statement denying any aggressive intentions. On the other hand, it is odd to have […]
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