Italy's foreign minister urged the EU to create a unified army

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said that the EU should create a united army. He said this in an interview with La Stampa newspaper, UNN reports.

According to Tajani, Europe needs a common peacekeeping force that could be involved in preventing and resolving possible conflicts.

Tajani emphasized that closer military cooperation within the European Union is a priority for him and for the Forza Italia party he leads.

"If we want to play a peacekeeping role in the world, we need a European army. This is a fundamental condition for an effective foreign policy in Europe," Tajani said.

He also added that in a world with major political players such as the United States, China, India and Russia, and with escalating political crises in the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific region, "citizens of Italy, Germany, France or Slovenia can only be protected by an already existing structure, namely the European Union.

In addition, Tajani called for a reform of the pan-European political structure itself. In his opinion, Europe should have one formal leader, not two, as it is now - the president of the European Council and the head of the European Commission.