"Italy will play an important role in NATO's southeastern quadrant".
This was stated by the Italian ambassador to NATO
Francesco Maria Talò during an interview with ANSA
, anticipating the expected changes to the east flank due to the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
The details will be defined before the Madrid summit in late June, when the leaders will be in the Spanish capital to dismiss the 'Strategic Concept' - the NATO compass document - and to take stock of the war in Ukraine.
The other key theme will be "enlargement to include Finland and Sweden".
At the NATO summit in Madrid we will correct the tune on Russia
"Madrid will be the Strategic Concept that will take NATO into the 21st century, after a period of transition," says Talò.
"We will correct the shot on Russia, which in the last document was considered as a partner, we will insert China, absent so far, we will deal with today's challenges in an articulated way: cyber, hybrid, emerging technologies, climate change", he explains.
The 'Strategic Concept' is one of NATO's key documents and the one that will be approved in Madrid will be only the eighth since the organization was founded.