Italy is advancing a project awaited for centuries – the Strait of Messina crossing – with final approval targeted next week, Deputy Prime Minister and Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini announced. Speaking after a board meeting of the Stretto di Messina company, Salvini stated, “We have been working on this for two and a half years, a project Italy has waited for since Roman times. It is a cutting-edge engineering work that will be admired and studied globally.”
Salvini emphasized significant progress: “We are at an excellent point, not the finish line but the starting point. Today’s board meeting aims for definitive project approval next week, with construction sites opening by summer.” He framed the massive 13.5 billion euro project as “an important anti-mafia operation,” arguing it brings “work, hope, and prospects to many young people in often overlooked regions.”
Highlighting extensive international involvement, Salvini noted: “I met with the American project managers this morning. Up to 170 engineers will come from the US to Italy, alongside partnerships with Japanese, Danish, Spanish, and French firms.” He outlined the immediate steps: board approval, followed by pre-CIPESS approval this week, CIPESS approval next week, and subsequent validation by the Court of Auditors.
“Reaching the approval of the definitive design for this 13.5 billion euro project in under three years,” Salvini concluded, “is absolutely vital. It delivers justice for 5 million Sicilians and meets an expectation and request from Europe itself.” He also pointed out broad regional involvement across Italy, with Lombardy supplying the majority of participating firms.