Italy opposes EU defence spending plan, curbing bloc's momentum
ROME - Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni opposed European Union plans to raise 800 billion euros ($870 billion) for defence spending, undermining the bloc's show of strength in the face of Russian aggression and Donald Trump's indifference.
The European boon was proposed by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who supports plans for EUR 150 billion in loans for defence spending by member states.
A second proposal would allow member states to exclude defence spending up to 1.5 per cent of their national GDP from EU debt rules, which are designed to prevent states from running excessive deficits.
If all states took advantage of the exemption, EU defence spending could increase by EUR 650 billion, adding to the loans to reach a total of EUR 800 billion.
But Italian Prime Minister Meloni took a negative view of the debt rules plan when she met Von der Leyen in Brussels on Thursday, ahead of an EU summit to discuss the plan.
He stated that he preferred to incentivise private investors to invest in defence programmes, or direct EU funding that 'does not directly affect state debts'.
Meloni's lack of enthusiasm will have surprised defence officials in Europe, as her government has repeatedly called for defence spending to be excluded from EU deficit spending limits.
This move, his defence minister Guido Crosetto previously said, was the only way Italy could hope to increase its spending, which is about 1.5 per cent of GDP.
Now that the EU has said that Italy can do what it has been pushing to do for years, Meloni has refused to accept the offer.
One reason is that, regardless of whether the EU allows new debt spending, the markets may be less forgiving.
Another reason is that Meloni remains sceptical about the idea of Europe becoming a defence superpower without strong US support.
This month it refused to join the plans drawn up by the UK and France to deploy peacekeepers in Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire.
In a letter to the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera on Thursday, Meloni's defence minister Crosetto wrote that only NATO, not the EU, offers a guarantee of military assistance between members.
"The only concrete and viable defence model, here and now, is NATO," he wrote.
Meloni's caution on rearmament also reflects Italian voters' opposition to spending on weapons rather than on healthcare.
A poll this month revealed that 54.6% of Italians oppose the EUR 800 billion spending plan.
Meloni's deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini, a long-time Eurosceptic soft on Russia, also opposed additional defence spending this week, arguing that the biggest threat to Italy is Islamic terrorism, not Vladimir Putin.
Asked on Thursday about a possible European army, he replied, "What would a European army led by France and Germany do today: would it go to war?"
Published by Condoralex
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