Good morning everyone.
Thank you. I am very pleased to welcome the Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson to Rome today, with whom I share a solid personal friendship and common views, reflecting the long-standing ties between our two nations. However, I must also start by once again expressing the Italian people’s solidarity and condolences for the tragedy in Örebro at the beginning of February.
With the Prime Minister, we discussed the excellent state of our bilateral relations and had an exchange of views on the main issues on the European and international agenda. We have several important engagements, starting with the upcoming European Council meetings. An informal European Council meeting has been called for 6 March to primarily discuss issues related to Ukraine and security. There was also a brief video conference meeting this morning and there will be another important ordinary European Council meeting on 20 March to discuss competitiveness.
We agree with Prime Minister Kristersson on the fact that, today more than ever, there are two major issues in particular that Europe cannot afford to ignore: the security of its citizens and the competitiveness of its production system. Security certainly means defence, and this means that Europe needs to have the courage to work concretely to consolidate the European pillar of the Atlantic Alliance, which has been talked about for a long time and which must stand alongside the North American pillar with a view to strategic complementarity, for NATO remains the cornerstone of our security, all the more so after Sweden and Finland joined; today, however, it must also have an approach that is as comprehensive as possible. This means a comprehensive approach from a geographical point of view: for Italy, the attention paid to the Alliance’s southern flank is very important, in addition to the Alliance’s eastern flank of course. However, this also means having a comprehensive approach to how we consider the concept of a threat today. The concepts of ‘threat’ and ‘security’ are much broader today than in the past.
To do this, we need to spend more, but also succeed in increasing investments. I think that the decision announced by President Ursula von der Leyen to exclude defence spending from the Stability and Growth Pact is a first step, but this needs to be followed by other solutions.
We discussed this point with Ulf, bearing in mind the very complex context we are operating in and the efforts we are all pursuing together, in particular to lay the foundations for a just and lasting peace in Ukraine. This goal can only be achieved if Kyiv is provided with adequate security guarantees, to be sure that what we have seen over the last three years won’t happen again and to be sure that the European nations that feel most under threat can instead feel secure.
I have always said and I believe that these security guarantees need to be provided in the context of the Atlantic Alliance as I think this is the best framework to guarantee a peace that is neither fragile nor temporary and that can avert the risk of Europe being plunged back into the drama of war again any time soon. As I have already said, other solutions seem to me to be more complex and frankly less effective.
Security also means the security of borders and the fight against irregular immigration. This is another issue on which we have worked very well together with the Swedish Prime Minister. In this regard, there is a great convergence of views. I would like to thank Ulf once again both for the work we are doing together to develop innovative solutions at European level, and for being one of the nations that is supporting the Italian Government’s position before the Court of Justice of the European Union regarding the matter of safe countries, as well as for supporting the Italy-Albania protocol. As you know, the matter of safe countries is not just crucial for Italy and the Italy-Albania protocol; it is crucial in order to succeed in pursuing a more effective return policy, and as we are working to ensure a more effective European return policy, resolving this issue clearly takes on fundamental importance.
I also wish to thank the Prime Minister for the attention paid to the external dimension of migration. Sweden has decided to join the Rome Process, a far-reaching initiative launched by the Italian Government which is increasingly involving nations that, despite not bordering the Mediterranean, understand how much this issue involves and concerns us all, at all longitudes. Together with Prime Minister Kristersson, we have explored a new way of addressing the major issues affecting our continent, also during the North-South Summit in Saariselkä, as we talked about. This positive, new initiative also shows how nations that in the past often found themselves on opposite sides at EU level, today understand that the threats and challenges we are facing require everyone’s perspective.
I found this to be a very intelligent initiative and there are many things that today bring together the needs and priorities of nations like Italy and Sweden, also with regard to security. I am thinking for example of the security of critical undersea infrastructure, which is an issue that shows us that the Mediterranean and the Baltic are actually not so distant after all. The objectively concerning recent events show how important it is to keep working together, especially in an area such as the security of critical undersea infrastructure where Italy can provide specific expertise and know-how.
I am of course also thinking of the large scope for cooperation that Italy and Sweden can develop at bilateral level too; I am referring in particular to the defence industry, scientific and technological collaboration, and the other fundamental domain of space, an area in which Italy plays a leading role at European level and has vast and deep-rooted experience to share. That is of course without forgetting the many investments that Sweden’s most important companies continue to make in Italy as well as the important investments by many Italian companies abroad, and this clearly also represents and shows the trust there is in our respective production systems.
So, my sincere thanks, Ulf, for being here and for the important discussion we have had. I think that, also thanks to this visit, our bilateral relations and our ability to work together in the complex, wider context we find ourselves in will grow even further.
Thank you again.
[Courtesy translation]