Mattarella: A ‘major effort to create a common European defense force’ is necessary

Rome – “A common European defense force” is necessary and urgent, the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, warned in his traditional message to the Minister of Defense, Guido Crosetto, on the occasion of National Unity and Armed Forces Day.

“Today, new conflicts have emerged in Europe and the Mediterranean, challenging the security framework built in the post-war period and the institutions set up to protect it,” the Head of State said. “The danger of the expansion of the bloody conflict triggered by the aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine calls for great attention and a major effort to adapt the military instrument, for the creation of a common European defense force that, in close cooperation with the Atlantic Alliance, will be an instrument of security for Italy and Europe,” he added.

According to Mattarella, the theatre is not limited to continental Europe, as Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has also stated on other occasions: “the untiring work of the Armed Forces throughout the arc of crises in the enlarged Mediterranean, where contrasting situations and fragile truces persist, remains fundamental,”  the President of the Republic emphasized.