If Mark Esper, the Secretary of Defense of the United States, through yesterday's interview in "La Stampa" was a warning not to give space to the Russians and the Chinese, the Italian government faces it with Olympian calm.
“Italy,” the Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte, told the same newspaper, “in its moment of greatest need, asked for and received aid from many countries. Among these were China and Russia. We managed this aid in complete transparency both towards our public opinion and towards our allies.” So the allies knew, Italy was loyal and transparent. “What I can say,” the Prime Minister added, “is that among the aid received, for which we expressed public thanks to each one, I like to remember the specific memorandum of support for Italy signed by President Trump for a value of 100 million dollars, a memorandum that the US President himself announced to me on the eve with a long and warm phone call.”
The meaning of the speech is clear. When it comes to humanitarian aid, requested by a country that has found itself in a real emergency, all those who help are on the same level. "I do not want to dwell - concludes Conte - on the possible geopolitics of those who help; rather, in our case, on the geopolitics of those who have received and I can confirm that our foreign policy line today is identical to that of yesterday".
Article published on May 5, 2020 - 11:13 pm
