The Italian PM reached Baghdad on Friday morning. Giorgia Meloni met with her counterpart Mohammed Shia Al Sudani for talks at the Government Palace, then checked in at the Italian Embassy to shake hands with Ambassador Maurizio Greganti. Lastly, she made her way to the Union 3 military base, in Erbil NATO Mission Headquarters and hinge of the Anti-Daesh Coalition (OIR), where she saluted Mission Commander General Giovanni Maria Iannucci alongside the entire Italian military contingent in Iraq.
- “I am indeed very pleased to be here in Iraq today, in what represents my first bilateral mission outside of Europe,” she told the press. “Iraq is a friendly country that has shown once again, with the recent formation of the government, that it believes in democracy,” and “Italy has always stood by Iraq’s side in its rebirth.”
The Defence Minister flies to Eastern Europe. Departing to visit troops stationed in Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania, Guido Crosetto tweeted he was “[h]onoured to bring the greetings and thanks of the institutions and Italians to our military personnel who will spend the Christmas holidays in the service of the country, away from their loved ones.”
- Rome recently set up and took control of the NATO battlegroup in Bulgaria. It’s also been carrying out air patrols over the Black Sea (from Romania) and contributing to strengthening the Alliance’s Eastern flank.
The Foreign Minister heads to Lebanon. Antonio Tajani, too, left to visit the over 1,000 men guarding the peace in the region through the United Nations UNIFIL peacekeeping mission, whom he called “a pride for all of Italy.”
- He also met with the Head of the Lebanese Parliament, Nabih Berri, to discuss the country’s stability and upcoming presidential elections and reiterate Italy’s friendship and will to become Lebanon’s first economic and trade partner once again.
