The European military mission in the
Red Sea
that Rome is promoting
with Paris and Berlin
represents "a considerable step towards a true European defense. Italy is ready to do its part".
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani
said this
in Brussels.
The one in the Red Sea "is a military intervention to defend Italian merchant ships, there is a collapse in merchant traffic, we are an exporting country and we have the duty to defend our ships. We are not waging war on anyone but defending our own ships is a duty of the Republic and the government".
This is what the head of the Farnesina explained, responding to reporters who asked him if he feared that the naval mission in the Red Sea would not be seen as a military intervention in the area.
"It will be a reinforced defense of the merchant ships, without active participation for the moment, in which case a new vote of Parliament would be needed. But
the use of force will be foreseen to defend the merchant ships
. It will not be a simple accompaniment, as the mission that foresees today there is in Hormuz. Our idea is that there is a strong defense of the merchant ships, with the shooting down of any weapon that hits the ships passing from Suez to Hormuz", added Tajani.
"We are proposing together with France and Germany - specified the minister - a mission that can guarantee the safety of maritime traffic. I hope that the mission can already be definitively approved in the next Foreign Affairs Council after a substantial green light in the meeting of Today".
For Italy, the mission in the Red Sea "may also include" the Emasoh/Agenor mission, in the Strait of Hormuz.
"The mission involves having a defense system which in my opinion must be strong, therefore capable of shooting down drones and missiles launched by the Houthis. I don't think the European mission foresees attacks on Yemeni territory because it has never happened but there will be protection very strong military, determined and I hope with all the necessary tools", explained the Italian vice prime minister.
Parliament will be informed about the mission in the Red Sea: "As things are it is not obligatory but of course we will inform it", said the Foreign Minister.
"I have already been informed, in the debates that have taken place, on several occasions, of our intentions, and from my next presence in Parliament I will say what we are doing. It is right that Parliament is informed but the military mission is already authorized, this is the one in the Strait of Hormuz", he added.
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