Italy considers leaving the “One Belt, One Road” Initiative

Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto made evaluations for the Corriere della Sera newspaper.

Guido Crosetto said joining China's Belt and Road Initiative was a "terrible" decision, and the question was how to get out of this plan without damaging relations with Beijing.

Crosetto said that this decision, taken four years ago during the previous government, "does little to increase exports, while Chinese exports to Italy have increased tremendously."

"It's true that China is a competitor.

But it is our partner." Crosetto said, "The decision to join the New Silk Road was an impromptu and brutal act that multiplied China's exports to Italy but did not have the same effect on Italy's exports to China. The issue today is how to step back from the "One Belt, One Road" Initiative without damaging relations with Beijing. Because it's true that China is a competitor, but also a partner," he said.

Crosetto also said Beijing's "increasingly assertive stances", "the ambition to have the largest military presence in the world" and its "expansion goals in Africa" are concerning because "they are not hiding their goals, they are making it clear".

ITALY, ONE WESTERN COUNTRY IN "ONE BELT AND ONE ROAD"

Meeting with US President Joe Biden at the White House on Thursday, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said his government had until December to decide on the "One Belt, One Road" Initiative. He announced that he would be going to Beijing soon.

Italy was the only western country to join the "One Belt, One Road" Initiative in 2019.