Otto Lanzavecchia

Lorenzo Guerini, the Italian defence minister, will travel to Tripoli on August 5th for a series of highest-level meetings with the UN-backed Libyan government, a source from the latter institution told Formiche.net. He is bound to discuss the general situation in Libya, a stabilisation process for the country which prioritises the Libyans, and migration – a matter that has taken…

“The vision of Italian Defence and its position in the international arena are very clear: NATO and the EU are the foundations of our security. The direction we’re pursuing with conviction is the strengthening of the EU’s Defence as the European cornerstone of the transatlantic relationship.” The quote above was penned by Lorenzo Guerini, Italian defence minister, as he replied…

Danial Kassrae, an Iranian holding Italian citizenship, has been accused of espionage by Albanian authorities and placed on a flight to Rome on July 23rd, as reported by Formiche.net. The day before, Albanian interior minister Sander Lleshaj had signed an order declaring the 29-year-old persona non grata and barring him from entering Albania for the next 15 years. Mr Kassrae…

The current Italian government has never been a wonderfully stable institution. It was born out of convenience almost a year ago, with the aim of countering the rise of Matteo Salvini, a right-wing politician who was high on consensus and seeking “full powers”. Today, the relationship between the two governing parties – the anti-establishment and populist Five Star Movement and…

August 2019. The weather is torrid, the Five Star Movement governs Italy together with the League, and the latter’s leader Matteo Salvini is at the frontline of an anti-migrant, anti-NGO rescue mission campaign in his capacity as interior minister. The NGO ship “Open Arms” has been waiting off the coast of the island of Lampedusa for 19 days. Onboard are…

“All US presidents have always lamented that we [NATO allies] spend too little on NATO. During election period, [Mr.] Trump is forced to act.” This is how Italian general Mario Arpino, former Chief of the Italian Defence Staff, interprets US president Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw roughly a third of the US troops stationed in Germany: a symbolic sanction meant as a…

“I want to say that the government is evaluating [extending the state of emergency] on the basis of organisational and operational instances, and certainly not to exploit it, like somebody went so far as to say.” This is how the lawyer-turned-PM, Giuseppe Conte, addressed the nation through its parliament hoping to quash the mounting criticism. Members of the opposition have…

The Italian mediatic spotlight is focussing on matters of migration again, following a rise in migrant landings and coronavirus-related health concerns. More than 12,300 have made the trip so far this year, mostly departing from Libya and Tunisia – where interior minister Luciana Lamorgese has recently gone to discuss cooperation and the local stemming of migration with the Tunisian government.…

It’s been a rocky ride – to put it mildly – for the leader of the opposition and the right-wing League, Matteo Salvini. Until August last year, he was deputy prime minister and interior minister. His party, the League, had reached a stellar amount of consensus, polling at 38% after it had been favoured by only 17% of Italians during…

“[Italian prime minister] Conte must remain in the political arena. He is newer and fresher than the ruling class that surrounds him. I’m positive that he wouldn’t want to form his own party, but rather lead a competitive coalition to defeat the right.” Here’s a ground-breaking thought from a key figure of the co-ruling Democratic Party, Goffredo Bettini, as appeared…