Italy PM walks tightrope with EU defence spending, Ukraine

Italy PM walks tightrope with EU defence spending, Ukraine
By Alice RITCHIE
Rome (AFP) Mar 18, 2025

Italy's Giorgia Meloni will set out her position on EU defence plans on Tuesday, as she seeks to balance divisions in her coalition government with support for Ukraine, while keeping Washington onside.

The prime minister will give a speech to the Senate on her approach to a European Union summit starting on Thursday, where leaders will discuss plans to ramp up military aid for Ukraine amid faltering US support under President Donald Trump.

Meloni's hard-right government has until now strongly backed Kyiv in its war with Russia, despite her coalition partners' history of warm ties with Moscow.

And her far-right Brothers of Italy party last week backed an EU plan to ramp up defence spending, after Trump withdrew military support for Kyiv and opened negotiations with Moscow.

But Meloni has also sought to avoid antagonising Trump, a fellow populist conservative who invited her to his inauguration -- while shunning other major EU leaders.

At crisis talks with European allies in London earlier this month, following Trump's Oval Office clash with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky, Meloni stressed the importance of avoiding "the risk that the West divides".

She has brushed off French President Emmanuel Macron's idea of extending its nuclear umbrella to other European nations, saying it suggested "a disengagement of the US" and adding: "I would avoid this scenario."

She has also been clear that Italy would not send troops to defend any truce, including in a video call with allies on Saturday.

- Tightrope -

The European defence plan has divided public opinion in Italy, with an Ipsos survey for the Corriere della Sera newspaper last week showing 39 percent of those polled were against, compared to 28 percent for.

It also found declining support for Ukraine since Russia's 2022 invasion, although it remains strongest amongst Meloni's voters.

The splits run through the government and opposition parties, with Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, leader of the far-right League party, leading the charge against.

Salvini, who has in the past expressed his admiration for Russia's Vladimir Putin, has embraced the new approach from Washington.

He said earlier this month that Trump is "the only leader capable of finally bringing peace", and declared EU calls to strengthen the bloc's military as "dangerous and irresponsible".

Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti, a member of the League, has also warned against the risk of further swelling Italy's enormous debt.

Italy currently spends about 1.5 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on defence, less than the NATO commitment of two percent -- and well below Trump's demand of five percent.

The third party in Meloni's coalition, the centre-right Forza Italia led by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, backs the plan.

Italy's opposition, meanwhile, is divided across and within parties, with the Five Star Movement against, and the centre-left Democratic Party split down the middle.

Lorenzo Castellani, political expert at the University of Luiss, said Meloni was walking a "tightrope".

"It will be difficult for her to increase military spending by what she promised -- 2.5 percent of GDP," due to the political opposition and debt issue, he told AFP.

But at the same time, "I do not expect her to break with Trump", he said.

He said he expected her to keep working with European allies while trying to "slow down the proposals of the countries most ready to support Kyiv".

Greece to invest $28 billion in defence by 2036: govt sources
Athens (AFP) Mar 17, 2025 - Greece, a member of NATO, is to invest around 26 billion euros ($28 billion) by 2036 in modernising its military capabilities, a defence ministry source said Monday.

Conservative Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is due to unveil to parliament on April 2 the details of the sweeping 11-year plan to reform the armed forces.

"In all, the country's new armement programme provides for an average expenditure of 2.16 billion euros per year. That totals nearly 26 billion euros between now and 2036," the source told AFP.

The planned reforms were outlined in November by Defence Minister Nikos Dendias, who said Greece needed to modernise so it could cope with the defence challenges of the 21st century.

Central to the programme is a multi-pronged air defence system dubbed Achilles Shield, which integrates anti-missile, anti-drone and anti-aircraft technology.

Greek media reports have said the government is in talks with Israel to acquire multiple rocket launch systems for this purpose.

The programme also includes the purchase of 20 F-35 fighter jets.

An agreement has already been signed for the aircraft, which are due to be delivered in 2030.

Greece is one of only four NATO countries to devote more than 3.0 percent of its gross domestic product to defence spending, a strategy triggered largely by long-standing tensions with neighbouring Turkey.

Within the military alliance, only Poland, Estonia and Latvia spend more on defence than Greece.

France, Germany and Poland also announced recently they want to strengthen their armed forces and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has said the 27-member European Union should significantly increase spending on weaponry.

Athens has earmarked 6.13 billion euros for defence this year, largely to pay for deliveries of equipment. This is nearly double last year's budget of 3.6 billion.