Italy-UK: Hine (Oxford Un.), “positive meeting between May and Gentiloni. Brexit did not look like a threat”

“A very positive meetings, one of the few times Brexit did not look like a threat”. According to David Hine, professor of politics at Oxford University and a specialist in Italian affairs, the meeting that took place in London yesterday between the British Prime Minister Theresa May and the Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni ended with the hope that the UK’s leaving the European Union may be less traumatic than expected. “Of course, Italy is worried that Great Britain may keep playing a key role in the European defence system”, Hine explains to SIR, “especially in the Mediterranean region and in North Africa. It is essential to stabilise the situation in Libya”. “In Italy, the United Kingdom has found an ally that wants a peaceful Europe”, Hine goes on. “An excessively acrimonious Brexit would help disrupt the balance between the EU countries, and nobody wants that”. According to the expert, Theresa May’s announcement that another 20 thousand refugees will arrive in Great Britain with special programmes for the most vulnerable children from the Middle East, Africa and above all Syria “is not such a big contribution if we consider the refugee crisis in the Mediterranean region, but at least it’s a start. The British government would like to do more but the public opinion is not too sympathetic with the refugees and the Prime Minister must keep that into account”.