Photo/Illutration Italian Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani is interviewed by The Asahi Shimbun in Tokyo’s Minato Ward on April 18. (Shigetaka Kodama)

Italy is working with the European Union to provide military support for Ukraine’s defense, but it has no intention of attacking Russia, Antonio Tajani, the Italian deputy prime minister and foreign minister, said.

The EU intends to enhance support efforts aimed at bringing peace and reconstruction to Ukraine, Tajani said in an interview with The Asahi Shimbun in Tokyo on April 18, when he visited Japan for the Group of Seven foreign ministers’ meeting.

Tajani said Italy will act within the framework established by the EU, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the G-7 and other relevant organizations to defend international law and human rights.

“Reconstruction is very important because Ukraine will be a part of the European Union and will be a part of this same internal market,” he said.

He also pointed out that China’s engagement with Russia is important to end the invasion.

Tajani revealed the Italian government’s plan to play an active role in rebuilding Ukraine with an event held in Rome in late April, involving about 1,000 companies.

‘RUSSIA LEFT THE WEST’

Italy’s coalition leaders had taken a pro-Russia stance, the original stand of Premier Giorgia Meloni, who took office in October last year.

“In the past, (the) friendship between Italy and Russia has been a positive friendship,” Tajani said. “But the situation has been changed. Russia decided to leave the West.”

He continued: “A mistake, a big mistake. But finally ... Russia started (the) invasion of Georgia and they decided to change its position.”

Italy had been dependent on natural gas and other energies from Russia.

But “Russia is the past,” Tajani said, explaining that Italy now procures natural gas from increasingly diversified sources, including Arab countries and Africa.

“And our vision is to be an important hub for energy in the Mediterranean Sea. We are changing our strategy without Russia (in the energy field),” he said.

Tajani expressed high expectations for the partnership announced in December between Japan, Britain and Italy to jointly develop a next-generation fighter jet.

“The project has a great potential for our economic growth and technological progress,” he said. “It is essential to develop our partnership on (an) equal basis.”

He added that the effort can bring benefits to the civilian sector.

Tajani was a founding member of the center-right Forza Italia party and served as a spokesman in Premier Silvio Berlusconi’s first administration that started in 1994.

He then became a member of the European Parliament and joined the European Commission before being appointed president of the European Parliament in 2017.

He joined the Meloni administration, which was established in October 2022, as deputy prime minister and foreign minister.

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