ROME (ITALPRESS/MNA) – “As a country at the center of the Mediterranean, Italy knows it has a great responsibility: this government has shown it wants to play its part in global dynamics, in particular with regard to opportunities related to the development of economic interconnections”. This was stated by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni during the tenth edition of the Rome Med Dialogues.
“I am thinking, for example, of the development of Imec, which aims to connect Europe with India,” continued Meloni, adding, “connecting the port cities of the Middle East and our continent, including Italy with Trieste on the map, would allow us to unleash enormous potential for our economy and our trade. Conceiving the Mediterranean as a global energy region is an extraordinary opportunity for everyone. We have already proposed Italy to become the main hub for connecting energy between Africa and Europe. Energy connections are one of the pillars of the Mattei Plan with which we aim to become the European gateway for Mediterranean with regard to gas and hydrogen”.
Meloni emphasized, “We want to build an increasingly secure and stable geopolitical space based on equal cooperation, not on exploitation or charity.”
“Our challenge is to enable African nations to make the best use of the resources they have and live with stable governments and prosperous societies. Until now, the right not to emigrate has not been guaranteed,” she continued. “We need to give these people a chance to have a future of dignity, growth, work and opportunities: true solidarity and respect can only be achieved in this way and that is what we have been working on since we took office. We are trying to Europeanize the Mattei Plan to create synergies between different tools that operate with the same objective.”
Meloni said that following the Italian government’s suggestion at our instigation, Von der Leyen has decided to introduce a portfolio dedicated to the Mediterranean into the new European Commission and to work on a plan for the Mediterranean, an initiative we are looking at with great attention and towards which we are ready to provide full cooperation. “This scenario demonstrates a change towards the southern area of Europe and this is due to the Italian motivation: this change is particularly visible in the way of managing the migratory flows, as demonstrated by the support for the memoranda signed with Tunisia and Egypt. The commitment is on the one hand to create development, on the other to fight traffickers’ networks: it is a path that must be consolidated to increasingly combat illegal immigration”.
– Photo Agenzia Fotogramma –
(ITALPRESS).
