Rome- Italian Defense Minister Lorenzo Guerini affirmed that (the Italian naval forces are committed, within the framework of the European IRINI mission, to ensure the effectiveness of UN Security Council resolutions that have prohibited since 2011 the smuggling of weapons to and from Libya, to guard Central Mediterranean, Quadrilateral of absolute strategic importance, also because of its interconnection with the Eastern Mediterranean – where the Italian Navy is also located to protect collective security, also due to its connection with the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea) according to the Italian news agency Nova.
Guerini said at a celebration marking the Italian Navy’s Day, that the Mediterranean passes about 20 percent of the world’s shipping traffic and that it represents the fastest, safest and cheapest route between the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
Italy’s defense minister described the Italian navy as the “backbone” of Italy’s defense system, a country that “stretches toward the sea and has often found the way to its greatest successes at sea.”
He added, “The Mediterranean is also suffering from the consequences of Russia’s unjustified aggression against Ukraine,” stressing the need to “maintain an adequate deterrence capacity at sea as in any other field.”
Source: Libyan News Agency