Mare Nostrum forces arrived to assist the Italian invasion. Despite periods of Axis ascendancy during the Battle of the Mediterranean it was never realized, and ended altogether with the final Italian defeat of September 1943. The term "Mare Nostrum" was chosen as the theme for the Inaugural Conference of the Society for Mediterranean Law and Culture, being held in June 2012 at the University of Cagliari Faculty of Law, Sardinia, Italy ("La Conferenza Inaugurale della Società di Diritto e Cultura del Mediterraneo"). In this contemporary usage, the term is intended to embrace the full diversity of Mediterranean cultures, with a particular focus
Operation Mare Nostrum and Italian Air Force. The navy units deployed consisted of: The air units involved helicopters, one MM P180 aircraft equipped with FLIR, two Camcopter S-100 unmanned aerial vehicles on board "San Giusto" ship and two maritime patrol aircraft. There was also one forward logistic site in Lampedusa for logistics support. According to Italian Interior Minister Angelino Alfano, the government spent about €114 million ($142 million) on Operation Mare Nostrum. Foreign contributions Slovenia was the sole external contributor to the operation. It provided its patrol vessel "Triglav", which assisted in general surveillance of the waters surrounding Lampedusa from December 15th, 2013