Military export, all Di Maio’s pirouettes on the embargo on the Emirates and Saudi Arabia
Italics by Giuseppe Gagliano
Italy eased arms export restrictions to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, government sources said Tuesday, in a move aimed at easing diplomatic tensions with the two Gulf states according to Reuters .
Italy halted the sale of thousands of missiles to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in January, citing at the time Rome's commitment to restore peace in war-torn Yemen and protect human rights.
That ban will remain in place, but a foreign ministry directive previewed by Reuters news agency said other limits introduced in 2019, which effectively blocked any sale of weapons and equipment that could be used in Yemen, will now be lifted. . “All existing authorizations are to be considered valid even in the absence of this obligation”, reads the brief directive signed on Monday.
Why this turnaround?
A repentance due to the significant pressures of the arms industry on the government?
There is no doubt… and a defeat for the well-known exponents of the secular pacifist world such as Francesco Vignarca or of the religious one such as Mosaic of Peace .
But on the political level, what repercussions had the Italian decision had?
Due to the revocation of the contracts with the UAE, they had ordered the rapid evacuation of our soldiers from the al-Minhad air base used by our armed forces as a logistical stopover for operations that up to now had been conducted in Afghanistan and which they are still being conducted today in Iraq and the Horn of Africa.
These errors and also uncertainties both in the defense industry and in the energy security industry are nothing more than the consequence of the widespread influence of the secular and religious pacifist associations that can count on authoritative exponents within the Italian parliament. to bring their proposals into being.
As long as these pressures of a political nature are not contained and above all until the law 185 is amended to facilitate the export of arms by Italy, these humiliating reversals will continue to be damaging in an increasingly significant and systematic way. only our military industry but inevitably benefiting our competitors. Starting with France.
As the military adviser of Palazzo Chigi, General Luigi De Leverano pointed out, our country needs support measures with an acceleration of procedures and a simplification of orders just as other countries are doing, namely France, Germany and Spain whose defense industry is explicitly supported by their respective governments.
Furthermore, we must not forget – continued the general – that the countries of the Gulf and those of the Middle East constitute fundamental strategic partners for regional stability, for the economy of the Italian defense industry itself.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/export-militare-perche-italia-ha-fatto-dietrofront-sullembargo-a-arabia-saudita-e-eau/ on Thu, 08 Jul 2021 06:19:17 +0000.