Italy will not be able to reach the defence spending target of 2% of the country’s GDP as required by the NATO alliance unless it is unbundled from budget constraints, Defence Minister Guido Crosetto (Fratelli d’Italia/ECR) told parliament on Wednesday, according to Euractiv.
Crosetto reported on the outcome of the NATO summit held in Vilnius on 11 and 12 July, during which NATO states were urged to reach the 2% spending target, while Crosetto explained the difficulties Italy would have in achieving such a target.
“I was the first minister of our country to speak about the difficulty of reaching the 2% target. For the first time, this government has made clear our possibilities to contribute”, Crosetto stressed.
Other NATO countries are lagging, although 11 are on target to reach it in 2023, while eight others will do so by 2024. Italy, meanwhile, is expected to reach 1.46% of the target this year and then drop to 1.43% in 2024 – meaning Italy could rank 24th among allies in terms of spending.
“A downward trend, and as you can see, we are a long way from 2% (…) In some cases, it will be important to spend even more than 2%, considering previous years of underinvestment”, the minister, who has proposed to decouple defence spending from the budget constraints, also acknowledged.
The Left, now in opposition, disapproves of this.
In April, Democratic Party (PD/S&D) secretary Elly Schlein said she had many misgivings about tying support for Ukraine to increased military spending in every European country. “It would be better to have a common defence at the EU level”, Schlein argued.
Crosetto explained that the 2% target, which Italy continues to disregard, cannot be reached next year or the year after unless conditions change.
“It is difficult to identify a date. I hope, because I think there is a need, that we will be able to respect the pact because otherwise, we would find ourselves to be the last country as an investment in this sense”, the minister stressed.
“It is right to ask if we need it, but the 2% is decided by parliament by approving the budget allocations, which is a political choice entrusted to the parliamentary passage. Then we can reflect on whether we need an Atlantic alliance or not”, Crosetto added.
Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani (Forza Italia/EPP) agrees and backs the idea of introducing a “sustainable and gradual” increase in defence spending, considering the overall contribution of NATO allies.