"The Armed Forces play a specific, peculiar, unique role within the state and its organizations: defending them, defending citizens and defending free institutions. They have done so for 78 years since then and continue to do so. In fact, they do much more. In the current, increasingly uncertain international context, our Armed Forces are also key to contributing to peace where there are conflicts, wars, tensions, where international security has failed, causing deaths of defenseless civilians, especially women and children, unjust and often forgotten victims”. These are the words of Defense Minister Guido Crosetto in a message on the occasion of Republic Day, celebrated yesterday. On the European situation, "it is time for a decisive change of pace in Defense and Security policies, with a view to a better integration between the Armed Forces, today increasingly necessary to face current and future geopolitical challenges," he noted. "Every year, on June 2, we celebrate and remember the founding date of our Republic. On June 2, 1946, the institutional referendum was held - not coincidentally, the first vote in Italy with full universal suffrage, both male and female - thanks to which Italians, having returned to live in a free country and a sovereign nation, freely chose to embrace the Republic and to begin the construction of a new Italy, founded on the values of democracy, solidarity, peace and justice. From such choices, the Italian Republic was born, thanks in part to the precious and painstaking work of our Constituent Fathers who wrote a Constitutional Charter that contains a wise balance of powers and protects the rights of every citizen, knowing that if that balance were broken, democracy would be weaker. But every valuable asset must be defended, preserved, protected, every day," the minister continued, adding that "we cannot ignore what is happening in Ukraine, the tensions in the Middle East and the Red Sea, the instability in the Balkans and the situation in Africa, because these crisis areas, only seemingly far from national borders, affect our daily life, our security".
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