The almost twenty-year presence of the Italian contingent in Afghanistan is about to end. Defense Minister Lorenzo Guerini arrived in Herat today for the final salute to the military and the flag-dropping ceremony at the Camp Arena base, which will be handed over to local security forces. The repatriation operations of men (there were 800 at the beginning of the year) and vehicles, started in May, will be completed shortly, in harmony with the acceleration given by the USA which intends to leave the country by mid-July, in advance of the symbolic date of the September 11 announced by President Joe Biden.
Permit to fly denied
The UAE denies an Air Force Boeing 767 to fly over their skies, forcing Commander Valentina Papa to land in Saudi Arabia (Dammam) and change the flight plan. The aircraft, carrying 42 army journalists and soldiers, was headed to Herat to attend the ceremony of dropping the flag of the Italian contingent, a symbolic rite that marks the end of the military mission in the presence of the minister, Lorenzo Guerini, of the NATO commander Austin Miller and General Enzo Vecciarelli. The ceremony was postponed for about 4 hours due to the unexpected. No problem for the Defense owner who instead traveled on civilian aircraft, arriving as scheduled in the morning.
At the instruction of Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, the Secretary General of the Foreign Ministry Ambassador Ettore Sequi summoned the United Arab Emirates Ambassador Omar Al Shamsi to the Farnesina. This was announced by the Farnesina. The decision after the United Arab Emirates denied the passage in their airspace to the C130 of the Italian Air Force with journalists and soldiers on board bound for Herat in Afghanistan, for the ceremony of the lowering of the flag that marks the withdrawal of Italian troops from tormented country. Sequi – adds the note – expressed to the ambassador “the surprise and strong disappointment for an unexpected gesture that is hard to understand”.
Guerini’s words: “Afghanistan will not return as a refuge for terrorists”
“We don’t want Afghanistan to go back to being a safe place for terrorists. We want to continue to strengthen this country by also giving continuity to the training of the Afghan security forces so as not to lose the results obtained in these 20 years ». Defense Minister Lorenzo Guerini said this in Herat on the occasion of the flag drop for the conclusion of the NATO mission in the country. The challenge “is still open, we must continue to be alongside the Afghans. The enemies of pacification will try to stop this process ”and therefore“ we will continue to do our part ”.
On the case of the flight denied by the Arab Emirates, he added: “The issue did not depend on us, some diplomatic initiatives were taken, the Emirati ambassador to the Foreign Ministry was summoned to ask for explanations and to demonstrate all the disappointment and amazement for having denied the overflight with respect to decisions that had already been communicated, taken and guaranteed ».