Ministero della Difesa

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The Brussels NATO Defence Ministerial has ended today: two days of discussion on major security and defence themes, including the Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan. Regarding the latter, Minister Elisabetta Trenta explained: "The technical planning initiated by Italy – which takes into consideration also a possible withdrawal of our contingent- is in line with the international assessment discussed today by the Allies. NATO's approach to the issue is in fact proceeding by prudent steps, not least because the matter at hand is well-known and has been addressed in various diplomatic contexts".

"All of us agreed that evaluating the impact of a possible withdrawal of the US (whose current contribution to the 20,000 troops deployed by NATO amounts to 14,000 units) from Afghanistan, or the consequences of a peace agreement is a fundamental step". Elisabetta Trenta has recently instructed COI (Joint Command Operations) to study all the scenarios that could emerge from a possible agreement between the parties.  

"We are part of a coalition and all decisions will be taken collectively, in the sole interest of finalizing the work done in the last few years to safeguard the Afghan people as well as our domestic security", Minister Trenta added. She also reiterated: "We intend to avoid any downward trend in the peace process as regards progress made in Afghanistan, from reducing children's mortality, to increasing the education level and women's rights".   

The agenda of the meeting –chaired by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg – also included international missions and operations, strengthening the Alliance deterrence and defence posture, burden sharing and NATO-EU cooperation.

As regards the defence budget and burden sharing, Italy has underscored the need to review and broaden the number of identified expenditure items, including, in the first place, costs incurred to ensure domestic cyber defence and its civilian component.   

In the margins of the ministerial meeting, the Minister met with her Turkish counterpart, Hulusi Akar. Discussion focused on military cooperation and the RSM mission in Afghanistan.

Elisabetta Trenta also met with Germany's Minister of Defence Ursula von der Leyen, to exchange views on Operatione Sophia and out-of-area missions.

Furthermore, in Brussels Minister Trenta took part in the meeting of eFP (enhanced forward presence) Latvia patricipating nations. The Battle Group, led by Canada, is made up of troops from Latvia, Italy, Albania, Poland, Slovenia, Spain and Montenegro.