News Analysis: Terrorism issue central in U.S. Vice President meeting with Italian PM

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden met Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in Rome on Friday to discuss cooperation against terrorism and other international issues, which aroused reflection among local experts about the U.S. and Italian role in the fight against the Islamic State (IS).

The two leaders discussed their common efforts to degrade and defeat the IS, counterterrorism cooperation, and efforts to counter violent extremism, according to a statement released by the White House.

Biden thanked Italy's contribution to security from Afghanistan to Iraq to the Mediterranean basin. The statement also added that the two leaders concurred on the importance of fully implementing the Minsk accords on Ukraine and the importance of energy diversification.

According to diplomatic sources quoted by Rai state television, a "full harmony of views" emerged from the bilateral talks, which took place at the residence of the U.S. ambassador in the Italian capital and reportedly lasted about an hour.

On Friday, Renzi posted on his personal website that "before deciding military intervention, there must be a clear strategy on what should be done next. That is why we keep our commitments trying to strengthen the coordination of all the allies of the international coalition."

The prime minister also underlined that Italy is one of the countries with the largest number of troops abroad, including in Lebanon, Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia and the Balkans.

The Huffington Post's Italian website, however, called the meeting between Renzi and Biden as a "blessing of the United States on Italian prudence" as regards the fight against IS in the Middle Eastern troubled scenario.

Renzi is keeping Italy out militarily, but is considering troops for Mali or Lebanon to ease the strain on France there, according to foreign and defense ministry sources cited by the Italian press.

"Though Biden's trip to Italy was a private one, the fact remains that the line of prudence decided by the Renzi government after the terror attacks in Paris has been appreciated very much by Washington," the Huffington Post Italia noted.

According to the website, it is thanks to the U.S. support and Italy's role of "linkage between Moscow and Washington" that Renzi has been able to resist the pressure of French President Francois Hollande, who is building an international coalition for an escalation in the fight against IS.

According to Vittorio Emanuele Parsi, a noted expert of international relations and Director of ASERI, Graduate School of Economics and International Relations at the Catholic University of Milan, "the priority of the United States appears to be stopping the Russian expansion in the Middle East and not fighting IS, differently from European countries that see IS as the common menace."

Should the U.S. attitude continue, it would also create problems with the European allies, Parsi added.

In his view, IS should be the number one enemy for everyone in the Middle East.

"Also, the Americans should be more realistic in taking into account the Russian interests in the region, which is also linked to the mistakes made by the United States in the past," he said.

The IS will not evaporate, Parsi went on saying, if European countries continue to live an ordinary life as if nothing had happened.

Terrorism must be defeated with a strong action, he told Xinhua, otherwise will pose a serious threat to Europe.

In fact, the IS is not indestructible and could be quite easily defeated if the international community gives up some individual interests, he stressed.

"The more we wait, the more IS becomes stronger," Parsi said, also calling for China, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council and a global economic giant, to take a more active role in the global fight against terrorism. Endit