After Battisti's arrest, Italy offers military rapprochement with Brazil
After changing its stance towards Cesare Battisti, Brazil receives a proposal from the Italian government to unlock a military agreement and for Roma Be Brasília's interlocutor to achieve better access to the European market for products exported by the country. This Wednesday, President Jair Bolsonaro met with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. During the meeting, the Italian thanked Brazil for its collaboration in Battisti's case and offered a military approach.
Bolsonaro and Conte
According to the Minister of the Institutional Security Cabinet (GSI), General Augusto Heleno, one of the points raised would be the Italians' interest in selling military equipment to Brazil, in addition to the shipbuilding sector. One of the projects would be the construction of a FREMM frigate, with work in Italy.
The President of the Republic, Jair Bolsonaro, during a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of Italy, Giuseppe Conte. Photo: Alan Santos/Presidency of the Republic
In addition to the military sector, Roma offered Brazil to work to be a kind of spokesperson for national exporting interests in the European market. “They are willing to create a group within the EU to facilitate Brazil's access to the market”, explained the general.
Speaking to Estado, Prime Minister Conte explained that the goal, from now on, is to bring the two countries closer together. “It was a very good meeting. We talked about how we can expand our cooperation in different fields, including political and military,” he said.
In 2011, following the decision of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's government to grant asylum to Battisti, several agreements between Brazil and Italy were canceled or frozen. That year, Italian parliamentarians prevented the approval of a military cooperation agreement between the two countries. The measure was seen as retaliation against Brazil.
By DefenseNet
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