Italy’s right-wing government led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Friday presented a new commercial strategy for the Arctic region.

The document was officially presented in Rome by Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Defense Minister Guido Crosetto and University and Research Minister Anna Maria Bernini and aims to strengthen security cooperation and open business opportunities in the region.

The new strategy reflects the polar north’s growing geopolitical and economic importance, as U.S. President Donald Trump seeks to expand American influence by acquiring or seizing Greenland from Denmark.

In a statement, Meloni said Italy was “perfectly aware of how much this region of the world represents a strategic quadrant in global balances” and pledged to continue working to preserve the Arctic as “an area of peace, cooperation and prosperity.”

She added that the Arctic must “increasingly be a priority of the European Union and NATO,” urging the transatlantic military alliance to develop a coordinated presence to “prevent tensions, preserve stability and respond to interference from other actors.”

Tajani announced that he would travel to Washington in the coming weeks to discuss raw materials with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other partners, and said Italy would also launch “an Italian business mission to the Arctic.”

“Europe’s attention and Italy’s attention to the Arctic is not born today: we have always recognized the centrality,” Tajani said, adding that Rome was considering setting up a business group focused on exports in sectors such as defense, energy and space. “We want to support our companies and stand by them because the Arctic region is our priority.”

Bernini said Rome would host the Arctic Circle Rome Forum — Polar Dialogue in early March, bringing together entrepreneurs, defense firms, scientists, researchers and politicians to discuss the region.

The renewed focus on the Arctic comes as Denmark and several allies announced plans this week to reinforce their military presence in Greenland, following escalating rhetoric from U.S. President Donald Trump about American claims to Arctic territory.

Crosetto, however, criticized the fragmented national deployments of troops, calling instead for a NATO-led approach.

“Italy’s defense ministry has been focused on the Arctic for some time now, with the Navy, the Air Force and the Army carrying out exercises that did not start today, and that certainly are not about sending 15 soldiers to Greenland,” he said.

“Imagine it: 15 Italians, 15 French, 15 Germans — it sounds like the beginning of a joke to me. I think it is in our interest to keep the Western world together, always thinking in NATO and U.N. terms,” he added.