My meeting today with Gianni Letta (pictured above), Under Secretary of State to the presidency of the Council of Ministers and right-hand man of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, took place amid the high drama of a political era drawing to a close in Italy.It was very busy in Palazzo Chigi, the 16th century noble residence which serves as the seat of the Italian Government, but nonetheless Mr Letta was generous with his time. His message was clear: regardless of the current difficulties Italy will continue to support a strong European emergency response capacity come what may.

I met him before addressing a conference marking ten years of the European Civil Protection Mechanism – the engine room of our joint efforts to preserve the lives and ensure the safety of our citizens when natural and man-made disasters strike.

With more than a million volunteers involved in civil protection and a full range of natural disasters – eight active volcanoes, earthquakes, forest fires – Italy is among the foremost nations when it comes to preparedness and rapid response. It has demonstrated this in recent days by rising to the challenge of the floods. My thoughts are with the families of the victims of this disaster, which would certainly have been worse if not for the swift and efficient response of the Italian authorities.

Italy has proven its solidarity countless times, most recently when it joined the pan-European response to the earthquake in Turkey by sending more than 200 winterised tents to shelter those left homeless. This year Italy has also provided air and sea transport through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism during the Libyan crisis as well as fire fighting aircraft to Greece and Albania during the summer when there were raging forest fires.

Italy has been a strong friend to Europe and the world in its civil protection endeavours and I am confident that it will continue to set an example during these turbulent times and beyond.

Number of views: 1505

Tags: Civil Protection, civil protection mechanism, Humanitarian Aid, Italy