Security, Meloni to EU leaders: “There is also a southern flank”

Brussels – “One thing that needs to be said when talking about drones and walls is that the borders of the alliance are very wide. If we make the mistake of only looking at the eastern flank and forgetting that there is also a southern one, we risk not being effective.” Giorgia Meloni is keen to emphasise that when it comes to security and security threats to the EU bloc, challenges and stakes are common, and the Prime Minister arrives in Copenhagen for the Informal summit of heads of state and government determined to update the agenda so that it does not focus only on Russia’s hostile acts, which everyone is looking at with a renewed sense of urgency. 

It’s not that Italy is not paying attention. On the contrary, Meloni is well aware of the “provocation scenarios” which are anything but random. Because, she explains, “on the Russian side, there is an attempt to prevent European countries from sending other anti-aircraft defence systems.” Still, in the face of all this, “we must not respond to provocations so much as find solutions.” Solutions that, for Meloni, cannot and must not be limited to specific areas of the EU. 

The Italian one is a contribution to a political debate that nevertheless revolves around the same axis, that of a new Europe, more integrated from a defence and military point of view. With all the nuances of the case, all the leaders who spoke to microphones and cameras upon their arrival in Copenhagen only reiterate the same concept. The first to do so is Mette Frederiksen, the Danish Prime Minister hostess. “We have to move away from the national logic, and look at the bigger picture, which is Russia’s hybrid warfare, and in hybrid warfare, you cannot defend yourself against all threats on your own.” Translated by Luc Frieden, Prime Minister of Luxembourg: now more than ever, “we have to coordinate defence,” a purely national sphere to date. Finland’s Petteri Orpo endorses the idea. 

As part of this momentum, the Latvian prime minister, Evika Silina, even proposes to “develop regional measures” in response to threats. The Estonian prime minister, Kristen Michal, is pushing for joint defence procurement and even “common spending.” The result of Russian military activities, with violations of European airspace, is that Europe is beginning to move towards a defence integration considered unthinkable, given also the historical precedents of unsuccessful attempts.