In Sudan “unfortunately the situation is very complicated, there is in fact a civil war going on, fortunately we managed to get all our fellow citizens back to Italy who asked for it, there are still a few missionaries and NGO volunteers left, but on their request, they remained in Sudan”. This was stated by the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, speaking on Radio24.
Situation in the country “not easy”
In Sudan, continued the head of the Foreign Ministry, “we have worked and continue to work so that there can be a ceasefire, so that a truce can be reached between the parties, the talks I have had with the two leaders have however allowed to keep the Italian convoys out of any attack and this is already an important result, but we must not be satisfied because tensions need to be reduced in that geographical area of Africa”.
And again: “we will continue to work anyway, the embassy is physically closed in Khartoum but we will keep our ambassador as soon as he is ready to return to Africa in Addis Ababa at the headquarters of our embassy in Ethiopia, so that he can be present and continue in somehow to ensure that Italy can also be the protagonist of a phase of peace in that country. Unfortunately, the situation is not easy, I’m not very optimistic about the short term”.
Wagner military presence with political objectives
“Wagner is present in many African countries, he plays not only a military role but also a political role, that is, in my opinion, to create points of tension, contrasts, contradictions which then lead to embarrassment for the West which is engaged in action in support of the independence of Ukraine,” Tajani clarified. The foreign minister then concluded: “This is what Wagner is doing: a military presence that has political objectives. So even in Sudan the Russians are trying to create confusion”.
UN envoy, neither side ready to seriously negotiate
In confirmation of the extremely confused and dangerous situation that has arisen in Sudan, the United Nations Special Envoy for Sudan, Volker Perthes, explained that at the moment there are no signs indicating that the military forces fighting in the Sudanese area are willing to negotiate with each other. Speaking from Port Sudan at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, Perthes observed that the two parties to the conflict appear convinced they can “ensure a military victory over the other” and neither of them seems “ready to negotiate seriously”. The envoy said he was in regular contact with the generals fighting for control of the country and explained that the 72-hour ceasefire that went into effect on Tuesday had been respected in “parts” of the country, while the fighting are intensified in others. Fighting has “largely continued or in some cases escalated” around Khartoum international airport, the president’s official residence, military sites and other strategic locations, he said. Airstrikes and heavy shelling also continued, especially in the cities of Khartoum Bahri and Omdurman.