Tajani Says Cohesion Funds Won’t Be Used for EU Defence

Brussels: Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani on Thursday said cohesion funds will not be used to finance a European defence plan. Speaking ahead of a summit in Brussels of the European People’s Party (EPP), of which the Forza Italia (FI) party he leads is a member, Tajani said that he “will stress that we have always been in favour of European defence, it was the great dream of (Alcide) De Gasperi and then (Silvio) Berlusconi and if this dream now comes to fruition it can only be a positive fact”, he noted.

According to Ansa News Agency, Tajani was referring respectively to the man who was one of the main protagonists of Italy’s post-war reconstruction and one of the founding fathers of the European Union and to the three-time premier and media mogul who founded the Forza Italia party now led by Tajani. “As far as cohesion funds are concerned, we will not use them because they must be earmarked to do other things and there is not concern on this”, Tajani explained.

The European Commission on Tuesday suggested to borrow up to 150 billion euros to lend to EU governments to finance a rearmament plan prompted by Russia’s war in Ukraine and fears that Europe might no longer be able to lean on US protection. The announcement came a day after US President Donald Trump paused military aid to Ukraine.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday that she could mobilise up to 800 billion euros for European defence. EU leaders will hold initial talks on the proposals on the table at a meeting on defence and Ukraine scheduled to take place on Thursday. Meanwhile, Von der Leyen attended the EPP summit and briefly met with Tajani before it started on Thursday morning.