As part of the State Visit of Their Majesties the King and Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Antonio Tajani, held a meeting today with the UK Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, David Lammy.

During the meeting, the two Ministers confirmed the excellent state of bilateral relations between the two countries, which they intend to further strengthen through new partnership initiatives. Minister Tajani particularly highlighted the contribution made by the large Italian community in the UK, and expressed the hope for an increase in trade exchanges and investment, especially in the fields of energy, aerospace, and agri-food. They also agreed to maintain close coordination to enhance joint efforts on the management of migratory flows and cooperation with third countries.

Tajani and Lammy reiterated the centrality of the transatlantic relationship, underlining the importance of continuing dialogue with Washington with the goal of achieving “zero tariffs” between the United States and Europe. There was full alignment on the need to step up defence cooperation in order to strengthen the European pillar of NATO. On international affairs, the two Ministers fully agreed on the necessity of continuing to support Ukraine in pursuit of a just peace, emphasising Russia’s responsibility for the lack of progress in negotiations. They also reiterated the urgency of restoring the ceasefire in Gaza and resuming the political process towards a peace settlement based on the two-State solution.

In the presence of the President of the Italian Republic and His Majesty King Charles III, Minister Tajani then took part, together with Secretary Lammy, in the round table discussion on “Clean Energy for Growth”. In his remarks, Minister Tajani highlighted the strong synergy between Italy and the United Kingdom on sustainability and climate change mitigation, as previously demonstrated by their collaboration during COP26 in Glasgow, and more broadly on energy security, particularly in view of the upcoming London Conference on the subject. He went on to emphasise the opportunities offered by the development of the clean energy sector, in which Italian companies are well placed to contribute in cutting-edge areas such as carbon capture and storage, clean energy production from renewable sources, sustainable nuclear power, and, in the future, fusion energy, as well as the development of energy networks and storage systems.

See for details AVIONEWS.