News Italian forces kicked out of Middle East base over UAE arms embargo

Test7

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ROME – The United Arab Emirates is evicting Italian aircraft and personnel from a key military base in retaliation for an arms embargo slapped on the UAE by Rome in January, an Italian politician has told Defense News.

Matteo Perego Di Cremnago, an Italian member of parliament and member of the parliamentary defense commission, said Italy had been given until July 2 to leave the Al Minhad air base in the UAE.

“The pull-out has already started and while work is underway by Italy to secure a last-minute cancellation of the eviction, I doubt it will succeed,” he told Defense News.

“When relationships break down in the Gulf it is very hard to resurrect them,” he added.

Former Italian air force chief Gen. Leonardo Tricarico told Defense News that the last Italian aircraft had left the base on Thursday, leaving only residual material to collect.

Tricarico, who is now chairman of the ICSA think tank in Rome, said the eviction was just part of the harsh treatment of Italy doled out by the UAE.
“The UAE has also denied the use of its airspace to Italian military aircraft,” he said.
The Italian ministry of defense did not respond to a request for comment by press time.

Al Minhad base in Dubai in the UAE, which hosts aircraft from various nations, has been crucial to Italy since it took space in 2015 there for mounting flights over Iraq and as a stop-off en route to Italian bases in Afghanistan. If confirmed, the eviction may now seriously complicate Italy’s ongoing pull-out from Afghanistan.

Italy has also used Al Minhad as a base for flights in support of multinational operations in the Horn of Africa and the Indian Ocean.

The UAE eviction has been linked to Italy’s decision in January to place an embargo on the sale of munitions and missiles to the UAE and Saudi Arabia due to concerns over the Gulf states’ military campaign in Yemen.
The two countries are part of a coalition that has been fighting Houthi forces in Yemen backed by Iran in a conflict which has left 80 percent of the population needing aid according to the UN.


The Italian embargo was implemented by a coalition government led by former prime minister Giuseppe Conte which was backed by the center-left Democratic Party and the anti-establishment Five Star Party.

At the time, Luigi Di Maio, a senior Five Star official and the government’s foreign minister, took credit for the embargo, calling it a “clear message of peace sent by our country,” and adding, “the respect for human rights is a mandatory commitment for us.”

In February, Conte’s government was replaced by a national unity government led by former European Central Bank governor Mario Draghi, who kept on Di Maio as foreign minister.
The embargo sparked an immediate threat of legal action by RWM Italia, an Italy-based unit of Germany’s Rheinmetall Defence, which claimed it would need to sack staff if orders for munitions it was supplying to the Gulf were blocked.

The news that Italy is now being asked to leave Al Minhad drew criticism from Perego Di Cremnago.

“This is the moment the Five Star party in Italy needs to take responsibility for a huge geo-strategic mistake – this eviction is emblematic of a broken relationship with an ally. Italy had invested a lot in the base and hoped to expand its presence there,” he said.

Tricarico said he understood the decision taken by the UAE. “Our relationship with the UAE started to worsen 15 years ago when Italian company Finmeccanica was unable to maintain its word to sell drones to the UAE due to complications over technology rights, and now we have arrived at an arms embargo,” he said.
In January the incoming Biden administration in the US announced it would review a massive $23.37 billion arms sale to the UAE including 50 F-35 jets, drones and munitions, which had been announced by the Trump administration.

In April, the new U.S. government said it would go ahead with the deals.


 

Madokafc

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Anti establishment party like five star movements is keep ruining the geo strategic and economy policy of major countries. There is similar movements like this one in Netherland and France, very worrying in my opinion.
 

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Anti establishment party like five star movements is keep ruining the geo strategic and economy policy of major countries. There is similar movements like this one in Netherland and France, very worrying in my opinion.

The down side of democracy ... When too much political correctness goes toxic . But , that's also part of the process . Too much time in prosperity tend to clouding everybody's mind and change their perception of reality . Nothing's sort off kicked hard to their nose and bleeding will ever remedyeing the symptoms .

👍👍
 

Madokafc

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The down side of democracy ... When too much political correctness goes toxic . But , that's also part of the process . Too much time in prosperity tend to clouding everybody's mind and change their perception of reality . Nothing's sort off kicked hard to their nose and bleeding will ever remedyeing the symptoms .

👍👍

We got PSI though those are kinda toxic if you are looking at their agenda against armed Forces and Police Department
 

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After years and years of "Eyyyy... America, who are you?", the Coup attempt, the arms embargoes, the F-35 fiasco, the support for FETO and PKK and many more... will Erdogan ever dare to kick Americans out of Turkey's territory the way Bulent Ecevit did it after Cyprus 1974?

Good job to the UAE- they have leaders with balls and dignity.
 

Ravager

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We got PSI though those are kinda toxic if you are looking at their agenda against armed Forces and Police Department

Well , in the present situation they kinda a perfect counter balance for the kadrun mania ( kinda ironic tho' ) . But , i agree ... Too much leeway given could only bring more hazard and land us in the volatile situation .
 

Lool

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After years and years of "Eyyyy... America, who are you?", the Coup attempt, the arms embargoes, the F-35 fiasco, the support for FETO and PKK and many more... will Erdogan ever dare to kick Americans out of Turkey's territory the way Bulent Ecevit did it after Cyprus 1974?

Good job to the UAE- they have leaders with balls and dignity.
Is it?
You lack a vision
Why would they kick italy if they dont have a back up?
U do realise that mainly uae equipment comes from germany, france, china, russia, and USA
They did that to show tyese countries that if they didnt support the current rulers, there would be no money for them which indicates two things:
A) the west are whores that are attracted to money and will always sell their dignity if they have to
B) the gulf leaders realise that money can help them get whatever they want; no matter what actions they take which is a really bad sigin. We must never give ppl like them such leverage


As for erdo, if he told the USA to go away from turkey it would be a dumb move
You do realise that greece has several military bases in its soil right? Who do you think the US will unconditionally support if the USA left turkey!? Now is not the time for such action
 

Deliorman

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Is it?
You lack a vision
Why would they kick italy if they dont have a back up?
U do realise that mainly uae equipment comes from germany, france, china, russia, and USA
They did that to show tyese countries that if they didnt support the current rulers, there would be no money for them which indicates two things:
A) the west are whores that are attracted to money and will always sell their dignity if they have to
B) the gulf leaders realise that money can help them get whatever they want; no matter what actions they take which is a really bad sigin. We must never give ppl like them such leverage


As for erdo, if he told the USA to go away from turkey it would be a dumb move
You do realise that greece has several military bases in its soil right? Who do you think the US will unconditionally support if the USA left turkey!? Now is not the time for such action


Let me tell you a story:

Back in 1974 when Turkey invaded Cyprus all of the Western allies of Turkey did put an embargo on it for years- Britain, Germany, USA- everyone. At that time Bulent Ecevit who was running the country just kicked the Americans out of Turkey... all that in the Middle of the Cold War.
Go and ask AKP supporters about Ecevit and Turkey at that time- all that they will tell you is that he was a weak leader, a godless CHP guy, that Turkey was poor, weak and an American puppet... yet he kicked them out like dirty dogs.

But we are now in 2021- ask AKP guys about the country now- they will tell you that Turkey is basically a Superpower, that economy is amazing, the Army is absolutely making the enemies shit their pant, That Erdogan is the best and strongest leader ever, that Turkey is independent and strong etc... Yet even after the Coup attempt, after the years of America supporting FETO, PKK and all kinds of terrorists organizations in Turkey, after America putting an embargo on Turkey, after US supporting all Turkish enemies and putting sanctions on Turkey- and Erdogan himself saying that... Americans are free to do everything they want in Turkey.

Don't you realize how pathetic it sounds when you have a very big and loud mouth but you don't have the balls to back your words with actions?
 

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