When called to report to Parliament, Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, Chief of Defence Staff, stated that the deployment of Italian soldiers abroad today has "an operational dimension unprecedented since the post-war period: from the Baltic countries along the entire eastern flank of NATO, from the Middle East to the Horn of Africa, from the Red Sea to the Gulf of Guinea, passing through the Sahel". "Defence," the admiral went on to say, "makes a significant contribution to nine NATO missions, eight European Union missions, five United Nations missions; On the other hand, 14 initiatives are carried out within specific coalitions or on a bilateral basis." Total: 36. In recent days, the government has shifted pawns on the international chessboard. On February 26, the Council of Ministers approved two new missions (Levante and Eunavfor Aspides, which are not among the 36 mentioned by Cavo Dragone) and extended those that were already ongoing for the year. Levante (192 persons, ten on land, one on sea, and one in the air) conducts humanitarian operations to assist the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip. Aspides (maximum 642 people, three ships, and five planes) seeks to preserve free navigation in the Bab El Mandeb Strait and the Red Sea. This year, a total of 11,166 Italian soldiers will be deployed overseas.
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