(ANSA) - Rome, April 27 - Premier Paolo Gentiloni said after
meeting NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in Rome Thursday
that "Italy already took on commitments at the 2014 NATO summit
in Wales, to aim for a certain target in a 10-year timeframe.
Italy is moving on these commitments and it is our duty to
confirm them".
He said "we have already reached the investment quota,
progress will be more gradual on the spending aspect because we
have to take into account our economic conditions".
Stoltenberg said that "Italy has increased its defence
spending thanks to a joint promise made in 2014 ro arrive at 2%
of GDP".
He thanked Italy for its contribution "to the construction of
capabilities" in the defence sector.
Stoltenberg said that "NATO is ready to support Libya, a
group of experts will travel there in the next few weeks to
discuss with Libyan authorities how to create institutions.
"Italy is an ally of extreme value, it made a contribution
there to solve the problems in Libya".
Gentiloni, for his part, said that "for us the scope of
NATO's political commitment in the Mediterranean is very
important and must be interpreted as a dimension that enables us
to maintain a recent conquest: our firmness towards the threat
of Russia is not a closure towards possible dialogue with Russia
on common issues".
Italy will keep NATO commitments
Italy has upped spending says Stoltenberg