(Adnkronos) – The Nato summit last week in Ankara “has strengthened relations between Europe and the United States,” Italy’s foreign minister Antonio Tajani said on Monday, adding that this “is certainly a positive development”.
“Controversy is unhelpful at such a delicate moment,” Tajani underlined.
Speaking on the sidelines of a European Union foreign affairs council meeting in Brussels, Tajani appeared to reference recent criticisms of Spain by US president Donald Trump after Madrid explicitly rejected Washington’s demands for European countries to sharply boost military spending and pay for their own defence and to use Spain’s military bases and airspace for the Iran war. Spain’s stance prompted repeatedly threats from Trump to cut off trade with the country”including visits” and to call it a “terrible” Nato partner.
“We need to work to build peace and also to ensure the security of Europe, Ukraine, and the entire West. When we work calmly, when we build a political project, things move in the right direction. Controversy serves little purpose,” Tajani said.
In a concluding message, the Ankara summit expressed solidarity with Nato allies, including Trump, underlining an “ironclad” commitment to collective defence under the military alliance’s Article 5 pact. Nato members also pledged 70 billion euros in military aid to Ukraine for 2026.
