Tajani hears Rubio: "Proximity between Italy and the USA, we have a common vision"

Relations with the USA, the war fronts, the Greenland file, justice and relations with the allies. Finally, Sicily which they want to continue to govern from 2027. The deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, he speaks across the board during his visit to the newspaper La Sicilia in Catania.

“I had a long phone call with the US Secretary of State, “Marco Rubio”he explains, and “we faced all the hottest situations on the international stage, from Venezuela to Iran, from Gaza to Ukraine and Greenland. A long conversation which confirmed the closeness between Italy and the United States. Two countries that have a common vision. It was a very positive, frank and cordial conversation which aims to strengthen transatlantic relations: our objective is the unity of the West to build peace.” Tajani then announced to Rubio his participation in the summit convened on February 4, dedicated to raw materials and rare earths.

E on Greenland: “The issue of security of that country is a problem that interests us and which must absolutely be guaranteed by NATO, because it is part of it. We must not underestimate the risks in the future and therefore it is good that the Atlantic Alliance is present. It is also good that Europe does its part, but It is not by sending 10-15 soldiers that the security problems are solved: a strategy is needed, beyond the choices of sending someone. We won’t send anyone. Instead, we want Greenland and the entire Arctic region to be the subject of a political and economic strategy – so much so that I have already announced a business mission to the Arctic – and of a scientific strategy because research is fundamental in that part of the world due to climate change which will modify maritime routes and we will have to be ready.”

Regarding the ‘interferences’ by Roberto Vannacci who had said “no more weapons for Ukraine”, cuts it short: “The leader of the League is Matteo Salvini, what he says counts. And he has always been loyal to the government and to the majority. Our interlocutor is the leader of the party who has always been coherent”.

Tajani, requested by reporters, also spoke about internal issues. First of all the referendum on justicewith respect to which he assures: “It’s not a vote on the government, but a vote with which citizens will have to say whether they are happy with justice as it works in Italy today or whether they want to change it. The government has absolutely nothing to do with it because it will remain in office until the end of the legislature. Justice is a fundamental value in a society and we don’t want even an innocent person to go to prison. The guilty must go to prison, so it does not mean being lax against crime. The trial must always be fair and we want no one, I repeat no innocent person, to end up in prison”. But he warns: “What matters is the unity of intent which for now must be aimed at the justice referendum, then we will talk about everything else, first there is a referendum to win and the party will do its utmost to win”.

There are also judicial issues. The FI leader lands in Sicily on the day he is asked to the arrest of a regional deputy of his party: “I comment as I have commented on the same requests that have been made in other Italian cities also towards exponents of the left: I am a guarantee, I am for the presumption of innocence until definitive conviction in the third degree.”

Same position also on another thorny case, that which concerns the leaders of thePrivacy Authority: “I am a guaranteeist, always: rumors in the newspapers are one thing, but it’s another thing whether the rumors are crimes or not. You should never exploit it. I am against campaigning on people’s legal affairs. Then there are behaviors that must be followed by those who occupy an institutional role, this is another matter. As far as the criminal case is concerned, I am always of the opinion that there is a presumption of innocence, it applies to everyone.”

In the end Sicily, “a very important region, which is growing more than the others”, governed by Renato Schifani and which the Azzurri do not want to give up, the politician assures: “Forza Italia governs well, I don’t see why we should cede the presidency of the Sicilian Region. We are a party that had an extraordinary result in the European elections. It would be a contradiction to change the political force that leads the coalition, we will talk about it with the allies, but we will continue to insist: Forza Italia must be able to continue to have the presidency of the Region”.