ROME — Italy's government has split over whether to sign onto China’s landmark "One Belt, One Road" infrastructure program that runs across Asia to key European trade hubs. Some 13 EU countries have signed up to China's new Silk Road plan, but Washington and Brussels are deeply concerned that the involvement of G7 heavyweight Rome could lend greater credibility to a project that they view as a strategic threat. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and Luigi Di Maio of the 5Star Movement, one of two deputy prime ministers, said a proposed agreement with Beijing — which would not amount to an international treaty — would not undermine Italy's alliances with the U.S. and the EU. Matteo Salvini, leader of the League, who serves as the other deputy prime minister, has taken a more cautious stance, however. He warned this week he would say no to any Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) "colonizing" Italy, and said Rome must "carefully assess the implications for … [Read more...] about Silk Road opens a rift in Italy’s government
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TMID Editorial: Two weights and two measures for Italy and Malta
Italy announces that it is merely considering signing a Memorandum of Understanding with China for its Belt and Road infrastructure investment scheme, and all hell has broken loose across Europe. But what appears to have escaped the majority of the European Union is that Malta signed an exact same MoU some four months ago, and another one back in 2014 – just a little over a year from coming into office. And since then, China’s interests in Malta have grown enormously. It has bought about a third of Enemalta, it has imported Huawei technologies and all that comes with it to Malta, it is supplying electricity, it has set up a joint renewable energy project with Malta, and there is even talk about possible Chinese involvement in the Gozo connectivity project. Normally, such memoranda are a dime a dozen. They are usually superficial cooperation agreements that result in very little. But the way in which the government had packaged it, and considering other Chinese … [Read more...] about TMID Editorial: Two weights and two measures for Italy and Malta
Italy slammed for thinking about China’s Belt and Road Initiative, but Malta has already signed on
While Italy is being slammed left, right and centre by the rest of the EU for even considering China’s Belt and Road investment scheme, the fact of the matter is that Malta had already signed on to the controversial initiative last year. And while reports yesterday suggested that Malta was now considering signing on to the infrastructure investment initiative, the fact of the matter is that Malta had already made official moves to join the initiative last year. Italy, which is falsely being named as the first EU state to sign on to the Chinese initiative, has been warned by the White House that its intention to potentially join with Beijing in the scheme could hurt its international reputation. In an interview from Brussels yesterday, Maltese Finance Minister Edward Scicluna backed the initiative, saying that “certain prejudices” should not come in the way of good business. “One has to be wary of any country, especially with political ambitions or any sort of … [Read more...] about Italy slammed for thinking about China’s Belt and Road Initiative, but Malta has already signed on
Greece-Italy link through Zeus’s oracle exhibit in Calabria
prev next prev next (ANSAmed) - NAPLES, MARCH 14 - The "Dodonaios. The Oracle of Zeus and the Magna Graecia" exhibition explores relations between the two shores of the Ionian Sea in antiquity: Greece and Italy. It was inaugurated on March 8 at the National Archaeological Museum of Reggio Calabria (MArRC) and will remain open until June 9. The exhibition was curated by the museum's director, Carmelo Malacrino and Konstantinos I. Soueref, director of the Archaeological Museum of Ioannina. It is the result of a collaboration between the Reggio Calabria museum, the Museum of Epirus and the University of Salerno. In the exhibition there are objects from Dodona, the birthplace of the famed oracle, from the Archaeological Museum of Ioannina. Some have never before been out of Greece. Among them is a selection of small iron sheets with etchings that mark them as coming from cities in Magna Graecia. The objects tell of the archaeological and literary history of the sanctuary … [Read more...] about Greece-Italy link through Zeus’s oracle exhibit in Calabria
[Opinion] Italy should capitalise on Brexit
Italy, it is often said, has punched below its weight in the world of politics for a long time. Even with its economic problems, Italy remains the eigth largest economy in the world. It was the fifth not too long ago. Yet, in virtually all matters of importance at the global and European levels, Italy's voice has mattered little. Various reasons account for this, not least a dysfunctional political system incapable of producing stable governments that can project credible and compelling international positions in world affairs, as well as weak political and economic ties to many countries around the world since it was never a major colonial power. Thus, even when Italy's economy was very close to the size of France's (1991) and larger than the UK's (1992), it was never a key player in Europe or beyond. With Brexit, however, an unexpected, and currently much under-appreciated, opportunity has presented itself. One of the great benefits of the UK being in the EU since the 1970s … [Read more...] about [Opinion] Italy should capitalise on Brexit