Equal associations
The entire government will participate: Matteo Salvini, Giancarlo Giorgetti and Adolfo Urso will talk with partners from the continent about economic and infrastructure collaboration; Tajani and Francesco Lollobrigida will animate the focus on food security; Gilberto Pichetto Fratin will address the topic of the energy transition, Giuseppe Valditara, Anna Maria Bernini and Gennaro Sangiuliano will address vocational training and cultural promotion, while Matteo Piantedosi and Guido Crosetto will talk about migratory flows, another of Italy’s central businesses, and the fight against terrorism. . The idea is to promote such egalitarian partnerships, abandoning the “predatory approach” that characterized the European presence in Africa even in the last century.
Participants
Together with 25 heads of state and governmentIn addition to the 11 Foreign Ministers, representatives of the African Union and various United Nations organizations, there are also European leaders, namely the President of Parliament, Roberta Metsola, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel and, of course, Of course, Ursula von der Leyen. , the president of the European Commission will assume a new mandate in the legislature that will begin in Brussels after the vote on June 8 and 9.
However, among the participants is not Nigeria, the largest State in Africa, a fundamental actor especially in the western zone, tormented by the chaos in Niger, where “the replacement of the alliance with France by others” generates “concerns” from the point of view of “geopolitical stability”, as explained by the Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi.
The presence of the EU and the axis between Meloni and von der Leyen
As in Tunisia, in Lampedusa and, sometimes, in the places of the floods that affected Emilia Romagna, also in this event of strong political and symbolic value there will be Ursula von der Leyen (announcing “a new era of cooperation” with the African Development Bank). It is the sign of an increasingly solid axis between the president of the European Commission and Meloni, who have developed a certain feeling, especially on files related to immigration and cooperation with African countries. Leaders of other EU institutions will also be present. And this “demonstrates the importance of including the Mattei Plan in a European strategy,” stressed the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antonio Tajani.
Brussels’ support
The Commission, explained a spokesperson, welcomes it “with favor” the Mattei Plan, considering that it “fits well with the joint vision for 2030 to which the leaders of the EU and the African Union have committed” and “with the Global Gateway investment plan in Africa”, approximately half of the global allocation for will be 300 billion euros. “We have established priority themes and pilot countries in which to launch the first projects,” Meloni explained.