According to media reports, Italy has officially informed China that it is withdrawing from the “New Silk Road” project. The daily newspaper ‘Corriere della Sera’ and the Italian news agency Ansa reported this on Wednesday, based on reliable sources.
Accordingly, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who heads a government of three right-wing parties, informed Beijing through a verbal note from the Foreign Ministry. At the same time, it was assured that Italy wanted to maintain its strategic partnership with China.
There was initially no official confirmation of this in Rome. However, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said at a conference held by Adnkronos news agency: “The Silk Road is not our priority. We have seen that the Silk Road did not have the desired effect. On the contrary, those who are not part of the Silk Road project have achieved better results.”
As of 2019, Italy is the only country in the Group of Seven democratic economic powers (G7) that is also a member of Chinese state and party leader Xi Jinping’s infrastructure project. The decision was made by a previous government in which Meloni was not involved.
The leader of the far-right party Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy) had already made it clear before her election victory last year that she wanted to leave. In recent months, there has been speculation that enforcement is imminent. The background is that the project would have automatically hardened if it had not been expressly terminated. However, the Italian goal was also not to upset Beijing too much.
The Chinese project includes land routes that are part of the “New Silk Road” and sea routes that are part of the “Maritime Silk Road”. “New Silk Road” is derived from the world-famous Silk Road – an ancient trade route that extended to Europe. A summit between China and the EU will take place in Beijing next Thursday. Hungary is still part of the European Union in the “New Silk Road” project. (sda/dpa)
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I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
