Russian missiles in Libyan Fezzan are a alarm clock for those who consider a distant question. It is now at home in the “extended Mediterranean”. And the West (primarily Italy) must deal with us
Russian-Syrian resources re-dislocation in Libyan Fezzan deserves particular attention. In Africa, the Russians have not moved the “waste”, but have concentrated resources – sometimes new – of a good level. This reorganization in the Mediterranean took place following the collapse of the Assad regime and the evacuation of the Tartus Naval Base in Syria, after the Black Sea had already been made a tonnara by the anti -voucher and Ukrainian drones (with the decisive British support).
In the Italian internal debate, the Russian reorganization has long been confined to a restricted audience, But in the last few days something has been changing. To break the ice was the head of the Navy, Admiral Credenino, who in a well -calibrated interview with Corriere della Sera He confirmed not only that the Russians are found in our Mediterranean neighbor, but also that they are rather belligerent.
The Mediterranean is therefore confirmed as a crucial area For Moscow, although Putin has discovered himself without access to hot waters for his wars ships. The latter can now reach the Mediterranean only starting from the Arctic or the Baltic, with a long peak around Europe via Gibraltar. The move responds to a Russian strategic reflection, which requires an enemy of rank – NATO – to confirm its status of global superpower and thus avoid the humiliating down regional power.
Russian maneuvers describe Moscow’s will not to remove the foot from the accelerator, Operating a qualitative leap that brings them in direct contact with the south side of NATO and the European Union, and with the main global commercial arteries. Not to mention the competition in Africa with China, with which relations are not at all idyllic.
On the European Eastern side, in fact, the new Anglo-German axis committed to closing political spaces and influence to the Russians. This is the key to interpreting both the victory of the Filo-EU candidate-and dear to Berlin-to the recent Romanian presidential presidential, and the piroettes of Viktor Orbán. Just him, the funambolic Hungarian leader, was among the first to sniff the new air that pulls. Declaring that “Russia understands only the language of strength”, Orbán has marked a significant rhetorical turning point for a premier historically close to Moscow.
Let’s go back to the bomb on the south. Giorgia Meloni met in Rome last Thursday the secretary general of NATO, Marc Rutte, And on the notebooks of his military and diplomatic councilors, the born of the end of the month is obviously marked. It is evident that Italy, which with the Mattei plan searches for a strategic depth on the African continent and has historic bonds in Libya, has particular attention compared to the Russian maneuvers. To keep the counter is not only the increase in defense expenditure, so far ensured to invariance of public finance sales, but also the nature of the Russian insidia and the remedies to contain it. They worry not only the Russian missiles installed in Fezzan, but also the profound relationships that military and Russian intelligence entertain both with Shiite Islam and with political Islam.
It can be argued that the Russian missiles focused by Libya on European capitals They played the alarm clock to those who considered the Russian-Ukrainian conflict a geographically remote affair, of marginal interest in the Mediterranean countries. It would be a mistake: the first not to operate this distinction are the Russians. The convinced proverbial stone is the negotiated United States-Russia, which is hardly limited to the Ukrainian dossier only, but embraces, because of the very wide range of Moscow, also the enlarged Mediterranean. It is in this active suspension framework that Italy’s Risiko is played.
On the one hand, Rome is giving impetus to the strengthening of the Italian-Turkish bilateralboth to improve the economic projection in Central Asia and to shore up North Africa. On the other hand, there is a strong attention to the Gulf, where the relationships between Saudi and Emiratini on the one hand, and Qatarini on the other, show a relative calm compared to the more stormy past.
