Italy and US NATO Ambassadors discuss the Vilnius Summit – Decode39

The Italian and American Permanent Representatives to the Atlantic Council discussed Ukraine and upcoming challenges in the Med and the Indo-Pacific at the event promoted by the NATO Public Diplomacy Division and our sister website

Road to Vilnius.The upcoming NATO Summit (to be held in the Lithuanian capital on July 11-12) will see allies focus on the immediate challenge Russias aggression against Ukraine as well as near-future threats. Two heavyweights the Permanent Representatives to the Atlantic Council of Italy, Ambassador Marco Peronaci, and the United States, Ambassador Julianne Smith delved into the matter on Tuesday at aneventpromoted by NATOs Public Diplomacy Division and our sister website.

Here are some takeaways.

On partnership and consolidation.Allies will reaffirm their unity and determination to support Kyiv in its struggle against Moscow, explained Ambassador Peronaci, and take strategic decisions to strengthen medium- to long-term organisational arrangements while broadcasting the message that NATO is stronger today than when the war started.

On Italys defence spending.Touching upon the NATO threshold for defence spending (2% of national GDP), Ambassador Peronaci stressed that Italy is confident about reaching it. He then pointed out the countrys other contributions to the Alliance, ranging from thebattlegroups deployed in Latvia and Bulgariato theassets made available for air patrolling.

On the Indo-Pacific.The area is the natural extension of the Alliances gaze, highlighted Ambassador Smith, noting that Allies agreed at the last Summit to label China as a systemic challenge for the first time all while Beijing is trying to erode the system Allies created together 70 years ago.

On the Med-MENA area.The Alliances does not omit the South, stressed Ambassador Peronato, including through partnership relations with countries and institutions such as with the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative or the Mediterranean Dialogues. NATO, he said, must be capable of acting before and after wars, with prevention and stabilisation. Other actors occupy spaces that will be hard to recover in the absence of a strong presence of democratic countries, he warned.

On the Italy-US bond.The American ambassador finally remarked on the very strong bilateral relationship and long history of working together to address challenges between Rome and Washington in the Euro-Atlantic space and elsewhere in the world. She noted that global challenges will require even-greater collaboration on areas like climate change, migration, global health, and economic issues.

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Italy and US NATO Ambassadors discuss the Vilnius Summit - Decode39