The United Arab Emirates and Italy have announced the increase of their relations to the level of Strategic Partnership, a report at UAE’s official news agency said over the weekend.
“The announcement came during a meeting held today between President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at Al Shati Palace in Abu Dhabi,” the report said.
This is important because it shows Italy’s increasing importance to the region. The meetings in the UAE included a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for cooperation on energy transition projects and sustainability initiatives between ADNOC and the Italian energy group Eni. The reports in the UAE said that the current focus of the partnership relates to boosting energy security and enhancing energy efficiency.
A statement from the countries said that “the UAE and Italy share common goals, including achieving sustainable development and economic growth, strengthening cooperation with the international community, prosperity and stability, and traditional values of peace, tolerance, human fraternity, coexistence, dialogue and openness.”
The agreement will “enable the UAE and Italy to focus their joint efforts towards expanding and deepening the horizons of cooperation in areas of mutual strategic interest, including political, diplomatic, international, economic and trade cooperation, in addition to collaboration in the field of direct investment and partnerships between various sectors, including healthcare and sustainable development…,” the statement said.
An article at Decode39, a news and analysis website that focuses on geopolitical insight and Italy’s perspective as a “crossroads between the global West and East, North and South,” examined the news of the meeting.
“The PM’s upcoming visits to New Delhi and Abu Dhabi could kick-start new strategic dynamics, as Italy could play a central role in the Indo-Abrahamic cooperation mechanism featuring India, Israel, the UAE and the US.” The article says that Rome is shifting its attention to the “Indo-Pacific.”
Defense News noted that “Italy’s prime minister is visiting India and the United Arab Emirates this week to reset defense ties after a series of diplomatic crises saw Italian defense sales banned in India and Italian military personnel ejected from a key base in the Gulf.”
She had landed in New Delhi on Thursday to meet Indian leader Narendra Modi before moving on to the UAE. The report at Defense News noted that Italy was seeking to return to close relations with India and the UAE and also patch up defense ties after several incidents that had soured relations previously.
“As she heads from India to Abu Dhabi in the UAE, Meloni will be looking to bury the hatchet over another diplomatic row, which was sparked by an Italian embargo on arms sales to the UAE ordered in early 2021 by a previous Italian government to protest the UAE’s military campaign in Yemen,” the report said.
What does this new cooperation mean for Israel?
Clearly, this visit is important and it comes from an Italian administration that is also considered warm toward Israel. This could lead to a shift in Italy’s role in the region. This comes amid other countries in Europe that are increasingly playing a role in the region or have historically done so, such as France and Greece.
For Israel, this should be good news because Israel has positive ties with these countries and they matter in terms of the Eastern Mediterranean and other issues. Considering Israel’s close ties to India and new ties with the UAE, this all matters. It also matters because Israeli defense companies were recently at IDEX in the Gulf, an important defense expo. All of this is linked potentially, but it will take time to see how the Italian visit may change Rome’s posture in the Middle East.