Italian Foreign Minister calls for EU army

Reuters reported the information.

Tajani emphasized that closer European defense cooperation is a priority for the Forza Italia party he leads.

"If we want to be peacekeepers in the world, we need a European military. And this is a fundamental precondition to be able to have an effective European foreign policy," he said in an interview published on Sunday. "In a world with powerful players like the United States, China, India, Russia - with crises from the Middle East to the Indo-Pacific - Italian, German, French or Slovenian citizens can only be protected by something that already exists, namely the European Union," he added.

Almost two years ago, after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, European defense cooperation rose to the political agenda.

Tajani also said the 27-nation EU should streamline its leadership and have a single presidency, rather than the current structure of a European Council president and a European Commission president.

• On January 1, Italian Ambassador to Ukraine Pier Francesco Zazo became the head of the G7 ambassadors' group to support Ukraine for 2024.