Published February 01,2024
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Italy‘s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani stated Wednesday that discussions have taken place on launching a European Union naval mission to guard ships within the Red Sea which shall be led by both Italy or France.
“The command of this mission will either be in Italy or France. We are working together with (Italian Defense Minister Guido) Crosetto, but it is important to protect commercial ship traffic. In addition to the Atalanta mission, there will be another one with new engagement rules. Therefore, it will have the capability to shoot down unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or missiles attacking Italian ships or commercial ships of other countries. This is a military defense mission aimed at securing maritime trade traffic,” Tajani stated in a TV program on the Italian state broadcasting service RAI.
He stated they’re persevering with to debate the EU naval mission, which is aimed toward defending business ships within the Red Sea from assaults by Houthi forces in Yemen.
Crosetto had additionally talked about that Italy, France and Greece are all in favour of commanding the EU mission and have submitted proposals.
Commenting on the Russia-Ukraine struggle, Tajani stated that “peace in Ukraine may be very tough until the Russians withdraw.
“Today, I discussed the general situation with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. Italy will continue to support them. Ukrainians will not accept Russia’s presence in an occupied territory. Perhaps we should start the discussion from a starting point, but Ukrainians want Crimea, Donbas. We will need to see how agreements can be reached,” he added.
Source: www.anews.com.tr