Italian Lower House’s Foreign Affairs Committee called on the country’s government to work with the countries involved in the project to assess its development prospects.
According to the Italian media, on Wednesday, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Italian Lower House approved a resolution, filed by Deputy President Paolo Formentini, committing the government “to continue the appropriate dialogue with the countries involved in the EastMed project” to “assess its development, with a view on diversifying energy supply sources, on the basis of the international geopolitical context and the conditions of technical and economic feasibility.”
The text also requires the executive to “pay the greatest possible attention to the integration processes taking place in the Eastern Mediterranean, a crucial region for national energy supplies and global political-strategic balances.”
As it is noted, MPs from all parties in the right-wing governing coalition and the so-called Third Pole, a centrist federation, voted in favour. The two main opposition parties – Democratic Party and Five Star Movement – abstained, while the Greens and Left Alliance voted against. The ball is now in the government’s court.
Formentini said that the “Parliament has finally expressed itself, after an in-depth discussion, in support of what we can define as a ‘pipeline of democracies,’ emphasising the centrality of the Eastern Mediterranean for Italy’s energy supply,” adding that “it is crucial to diversify both energy sources and supply routes.”
The resolution noted that the pipeline would allow Rome to “recalibrate energy supply choices” in light of Rome’s diversification away from Russian gas. Libya, another gas supplier, remains “very unstable and far from complete pacification,” while more moderate contacts between Turkey and Israel will hopefully “prelude to a sharper de-escalation” even between Ankara and Athens.
The Eastmed project “is also proposed as a strategic corridor useful to promote the renewable potential of the Eastern Mediterranean region through the transport of green gases such as hydrogen,” it added.
It’s also “a format that can join the network of relations built around the Abraham Accords and the reconciliation process between Arabs and Israelis, building a bridge between Italy and the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf.”
Source: CNA
