Maintaining access to Asia while the worldwide landscape is challenged by complex power balances and new deadly conflicts. Sergio Mattarella will travel to South Korea and Uzbekistan to continue a discussion that began during his first term with state visits to Indonesia, Vietnam, and China, sewing the threads of an Italian-Central Asian-Far Eastern relationship. Many problems are being discussed, ranging from bilateral relations with nations that have long had good connections with Rome to multilateral relations that see Seoul close to the Atlantic axis and Tashkent balancing its powerful Russian neighbor and a strong communication with the West. Mattarella will begin his journey in South Korea, a nation renowned for its technological prowess and affluence, which is perpetually at odds with Pyongyang's ambitions. Uzbekistan, a crucial access point into Asia along the old Silk Road, will greet Mattarella 26 years after his predecessor Oscar Luigi Scalfaro. A strategic partnership, which was established in June during the Uzbek president's visit to Rome, and Italy's participation in the treaty of consultations with the five Central Asian nations, both contribute to the enhancement of bilateral relations.
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