Italy Achieves NATO Defence Spending Target, Says Defence Minister Crosetto

Rome: Italy has successfully met the NATO target of allocating 2% of its GDP towards defence spending, Defence Minister Guido Crosetto announced on Thursday, describing it as a significant achievement but emphasizing that it is merely a starting point.

According to Ansa News Agency, Crosetto highlighted the importance of fulfilling Italy’s commitment, stating, “We have done what we promised to do, we have achieved the result and it is already an important thing.” He made these remarks during a ceremony commemorating a change of leadership within the Air Force.

Crosetto underscored that the accomplishment is not just about meeting a numerical target but about enhancing Italy’s capabilities in alignment with NATO’s requirements. “Our goal is not to achieve a numerical result but to have the capabilities that NATO asks us to give to the Alliance and to have the ability to secure and defend this country,” he explained.

The Defence Minister pointed out the challenges stemming from past underinvestment, noting, “Unfortunately, since we come from a very long period in which the resources were not what were needed to reach these objectives, it will take many years to recover the deficit accumulated in the last decades.”

Crosetto further remarked that simply reaching the 2% target does not fully address the issue. “It is not that reaching 2% puts us in a position to be okay and we must recover all the percentages of GDP not invested in the last thirty years that are the ones the Americans reproach us for and that are missing to have a defence like the one we would like to have,” he concluded.