“Today's challenges cannot be addressed individually. The dialogue between Italy and Spain is fundamental for a common European security agenda because security means ensuring democracy and development."

Thus Defence Minister Guido Crosetto on the occasion of the 19th Italy-Spain Dialogue Forum.

The event kicked off today and will conclude tomorrow, hosted in the Sala della Protomoteca in Campidoglio, where Minister Crosetto spoke together with his Spanish counterpart, Defence Minister Margarita Robles, in the panel dedicated to "A Common Agenda for a New European Security and Defence Policy."

The meeting was moderated by RAI 1 News Director Monica Maggioni and also hosted Giampiero Massolo, President of ISPI (Italian Institute for International Political Studies) and Chairman of Mundys, Charles Powell, Director of the Real Instituto Elcano, and Nathalie Tocci, Director of the Institute of International Affairs.

"Problems do not solve themselves. We need a strategy, a vision and a shared approach, planning concrete acts and not just making theoretical statements," Minister Crosetto said in his speech, highlighting the strong relationship between Italy and Spain.

"With Spain we share a strong cultural relationship, but also a perception and respectful approach toward the nations we cooperate with: an approach that offers us opportunities for ever stronger dialogue." he added.

Minister Crosetto then highlighted the importance of Europe paying attention to the Global South, especially Africa.

"There is no future of Europe without Africa. The goal is to create, along with security, real bubbles of democracy that start from issues such as health, education and culture, so as to avoid what unfortunately happened in Afghanistan."

This morning, at Palazzo Marina, the two ministers had a bilateral meeting in which they confirmed the strong relationship between Spain and Italy, sharing a vision of the main challenges affecting security and defence and the wish to strengthen collaboration between the two nations.

It was an opportunity for an all-round discussion on different topics: international missions, the Southern flank of the Alliance, military cooperation, the strategic importance of the enlarged Mediterranean, Africa, multilateral cooperation (5+5 Initiative), and Ukraine. The two ministers also talked about upcoming common commitments in NATO and the European Union.

Minister Crosetto also wished his colleague all the best for fruitful work during Spain's upcoming presidency in the Council of the European Union.