Italy will take part in the war in Ukraine, if necessary, with the already established NATO forces And they have already deployed in the area of operations for some time: about 240 men are currently deployed in Latvia, along with naval forces and aircraft in Romania, and others will be activated at the request of NATO if necessary.
Prime Minister Draghi, in his address to the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, announced that Italy is ready to contribute about 1,400 men and women from the Army, Navy and Air Force, and an additional 2,000 soldiers. what a total 3400 units to be deployed in the NATO area of responsibility: but no implied permission to cross the border (Here we talked in detail about the role of Italy in the Ukrainian war).
EU sanctions against Russia
and the Penalties? Draghi explained that Italy is fully in line with other European Union countries, led by France and Germany. after Putin’s decision to recognize the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk regionsActions were coordinated with G7 partners. Sanctions were tightened after the invasion.
Here’s what they are:
- Ban on imports and exports by separatist entities, similar to what was done in 2014 in response to the illegal annexation of Crimea
- Economic and financial sanctions against Russia, such as the ban on the refinancing of sovereign debt in the secondary market and the freezing of assets of three banking institutions
- Targeted sanctions against individuals and entities, such as the more than 300 members of the State Duma who proposed recognition of separatist territories and voted for
- Financial measures, such as the ban on refinancing of banks and public institutions in Russia, and the ban on new bank deposits from Russia to credit institutions in the European Union
- Measures on the energy sector, aimed at preventing the transfer of advanced technologies used primarily in oil refining
- Measures related to the transport sector, such as export bans, to include all goods, technologies and services intended for the aviation sector
- Prohibition of financing for new investments in Russia and other export control measures
- Suspension of visa facilitation agreements for Russian diplomatic and service passports
- The second package is expected to include members of the State Duma who have not yet been subject to sanctions
- The new package of European sanctions also includes freezing the assets of Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Europe.
gas problem
Now the maximum alert for our economy. The biggest concern is about energy sectorAlready experiencing increases in recent months: About 45% of the gas we import comes from Russia, up from 27% ten years ago. “The events of these days show the folly of not diversifying our energy sources and our suppliers in recent decades,” Draghi said frankly.
In Italy, We have reduced gas production from 17 billion cubic meters per year in 2000 to about 3 billion cubic meters in 2020, against a national consumption that has remained constant. Between 70 and 90 billion cubic meters approximately. “We must move forward quickly at the front diversificationTo overcome our weakness as quickly as possible and avoid the risks of future crises.” Italy is among the countries most at risk so far.
In the meantime, the government is constantly monitoring the flow of gas, in close coordination with European institutions. Italian stores benefit from a better situation at the beginning of winter Compared to other European countries, also thanks to the quality of our infrastructures.
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Because the situation in Italy is better than in other EU countries
The Prime Minister stressed that the filling level had reached 90% at the end of October, while the filling rate in other European countries was around 75%. Then the stocks were used to full capacity and in February they already reached the level they were in general at the end of March.
This situation, which would have been more dangerous in the absence of adequate infrastructure and policies, is similar to the situation experienced by other European countries including Germany. “The end of winter and the arrival of milder temperatures allow us to look forward to the next few months with more confidence, but we must take action to improve our storage capacity for the next few years.”
Italy is also committed to pushing the European Union in the direction of Shared storage mechanismshelping all countries to deal with moments of temporary decline in supplies.
New gas pipelines and coal-fired power plants
However, our ability to use is limited by Decreased number of regasifiers Action. “For the future, thinking about these infrastructures is very relevant.” The government – continued Draghi – intends to work for it Increased flows from non-fully loaded gas pipelines, such as TAP from Azerbaijan, TransMed from Algeria and Tunisia, and GreenStream from Libya. You may even need to coal plants reopento fill in the deficiencies immediately.
The government also says it is ready to step in for Further reduce the price of energy. “For the future, the crisis forces us to pay more attention to the geopolitical risks weighing on our energy policy, and to reduce the vulnerability of our supply.”
More renewable resources
Draghi spoke of gas, “But the more valid answer in the long run is to move forward quickly, as we do, in the direction of Increasing development of renewable energy sourcesalso and above all with greater simplification of systems installation procedures.
Finally, Draghi points out that the obstacles to increasing speed on this track are not technical or technical, but merely bureaucratic. But even for this, gas remains necessary as a transitional fuel. and for this The southern corridor must be strengthened, our ability to regasify and increase national production must be improved at the expense of imports, “because the gas produced in your country is easier to manage and can be cheaper” (Here are the economic effects of a large-scale war).
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