(Adnkronos) – Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has spurred the military alliance to rapidly grow stronger, above all politically, and to confirm its peacekeeping role, especially with the accession of previously neutral Finland and Sweden, Italy’s president Sergio Mattarella said on Tuesday.
“Russia’s serious and unacceptable aggression against Ukraine, the latest example of an increasingly insistent threat to the system of principles defended by the North Atlantic Alliance and the European Union, has forced Nato to become stronger faster,” Mattarella said.
“This has happened above all on the political level, confirming its stabilising role in peace with new members joining over the decades, Mattarella said.
Finland, which joined Nato in April 2023 and Sweden, which became a member of the alliance in March 2024, were neutral for decades, Mattarella noted.
“Italy has always contributed to this process…and to a more comprehensive reflection on the future of the alliance. A present and a future that must consider a geographically inclusive conception of its tasks, including those on its southern flank, which is exposed to instability originating in the Middle East and certain areas of North and Sub-Saharan Africa,” Mattarella said.
“This broad concept of security also includes the protection of critical infrastructure and the ability to deal with hybrid threats, including those related to the risks of misuse of artificial intelligence,” he continued.
Too meet these challenges, member countries need to invest in innovation and strengthen their industrial capabilities, Mattarella concluded.
Mattarell was addressing delegation from the Nato Parliamentary Assembly at the Quirinale Palace on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of its establishment.
Nato’s primary purpose when it was formed in 1949 was to block expansion in Europe by the former Soviet Union – a group of communist republics which included Russia.
