This morning the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, went to the Chamber of Deputies (and in the afternoon to the Senate of the Republic) for official communications in view of the meeting of the European Council to be held on 29 and 30 June 2023, convened by the president of the European council, Charles Michel. Among the topics on the agenda: the Russo-Ukrainian war, European security and defense policy, the economic situation, immigration, relations with China.

"Security does not disregard the bond with NATO. The complexity of the phase we are experiencing has not changed: security in all areas remains our priority, and consequently freedom cannot be separated from the bond that binds the European Union to NATO. At the next meeting in Vilnius we will have to take steps towards a Europe capable of defending its citizens", declared the Prime Minister.

In his letter Michel specified: "Our meeting will be preceded by a lunch with the secretary general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Jens Stoltenberg, with whom we will be able to discuss issues of global and European security. Our unshakable unity it contrasts with the disunity in Russia shown by this weekend's events". 

Precisely on this issue, the Italian Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, stated in an interview with "Il Giornale": in Russia "there are 5,300 Italians and the Farnesina is monitoring the situation". And on Cardinal Matteo Zuppi's peace mission he declared: "We are following all peace initiatives with great attention. The Holy See's is particularly authoritative, Pope Francis' envoy has already been to Kiev, now to Moscow. We hope that at the in the end common sense prevails". "I hope it can play a positive role, as China and Turkey can".