Otto Lanzavecchia

“Data is the new oil; the Italians’ data is the country’s intellectual property. Thus, I hope that Italy and the whole of Europe become way stricter [on Chinese tech]. I never questioned the commercial and exchange relations with China, but compromises cannot be made on security.” This is how the Italian minister for European affairs Enzo Amendola answered when asked…

As is the case with most European countries, Italy is seriously reconsidering its economic and political ties with Beijing. This finding emerges from a report from the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), an illustrious Brussels-based think tank. “Countries across Europe are becoming increasingly sceptical of Beijing’s intentions. They are debating reducing their dependency on China for supplies of critical…

Italy’s embattled coalition government is now a year old, but its internal atmosphere is far from festive. Truth be told, the coalition itself was never too strong to begin with, even unthinkable last summer, until it came together to avoid conceding the country to the rising right-wing parties. A global pandemic and several hardships later, it’s still standing. Now, a…

Following the devastating explosion in the port of Beirut on August 4th, Italy has joined the ranks of international countries that have been assisting Lebanon, which was already struggling under the combined weight of the pandemic and years of political and economic mismanagement. The Italian defence minister Lorenzo Guerini initiated “Emergenza Cedri”, a humanitarian mission that includes the deployment of…

The Venezuelan president Nicolàs Maduro has recently made headlines when he announced his pardoning of 110 jailed political dissidents. Many of those acted in the interest of Mr Maduro’s rival, Juan Guaidò, who has declared himself interim president in 2019 in a bid to overthrow his rival’s oppressive regime. Mr Guaidò is supported by more than 60 countries around the…

“Italy is strongly active in the Sahel, and on behalf of the government I can undoubtedly renew the commitment to take part in initiatives for the area’s stability and security.” Thus spoke Lorenzo Guerini, Italian defence minister, at the virtual International Coalition for the Sahel meeting held on Wednesday. The videoconference was centred on the situation in Mali following the coup…

The Italian foreign minister Luigi Di Maio and undersecretary Manlio Di Stefano travelled to Libya on Tuesday to consolidate the ceasefire and seize the opportunity to stabilise the country by revamping a string of economic deals. The pair will meet with members of the Un-backed government in Tripoli (Gna), including its head Fayez al Serraj and foreign minister Mohamed Siala,…

The creation of a single high-speed broadband network is officially underway in Italy, after the approval of two essential memorandums of understanding on Monday. The project has been attempted (and failed) in various forms since 2006, but the pandemic – and the massive, incoming European funds – have highlighted the importance of bridging the country’s digital divide and fostering its…

By means of a freedom of information request, the Italian daily Repubblica was able to obtain a government-owned document dating back to February (when no official Covid-19 cases had been recorded in Italy) that foresaw the spread and mortality of the virus with frightening clarity. The study, which was handed to the government’s Scientific and Technical Committee (STC) on February…

In early August, the Italian government carried out an unprecedented intervention, asking telecoms giant TIM to delay the selling of part of its last-mile internet cable network to the American private equity fund KKR. The government hoped that TIM could consider alternative ways to work towards a single, unitary broadband network – perhaps a solution that would have included the…