Today, meeting virtually between the HMS Prince of Wales, at anchor in Naples, and the Italian Defence Ministry in Rome, we – Foreign Ministers Yvette Cooper and Antonio Tajani, and Defence Ministers John Healey and Guido Crosetto – reaffirmed the deep and growing partnership between Italy and the United Kingdom.
We underscored our shared commitment to European security, cooperation within NATO, and support for Ukraine. The presence of the F-35-equipped UK Carrier Strike Group in Naples underlines deep British-Italian defence ties. Complex joint exercises during the deployment have further enhanced the interoperability of our Armed Forces.
We discussed our united stance on global issues, from the Middle East to the Western Balkans, as well as the humanitarian crisis in Sudan, and underlined shared ambitions, including on the Global Combat Air Programme, European security and confronting the long-term threat posed by Russia, including by working together to tackle hybrid threats. We reaffirmed our unwavering commitment to strengthening Ukraine’s military, political, energy and economic resilience.
We reaffirmed our commitment to tackling illegal migration, recognising its links to conflict and instability in affected regions. Building on the UK’s recent contribution of up to £5.75m to the Rome Process, we agreed to cooperate to tackle the upstream drivers of migration and to use all available tools to tackle organised criminality.
Together, we are building a future of closer strategic alignment, deeper defence collaboration, and unwavering support for international peace and stability.