Antonio Tajani, vice premier, announced the eighth package of military aid, but Defense Minister Guido Crosetto urges caution, stating, “Let’s verify what we are able to give.” Giorgia Meloni does not express her opinion on the weapons, but for the first time as prime minister, she speaks about the “weariness of public opinion.” Controversy arises between the PD and M5S.
Tajani opens the discussion on the sending of new weapons to Ukraine and a possible eighth package of aid. Crosetto quickly clarifies that there is no dispute with Tajani: “Nothing new, nothing strange, but above all, no controversy with my friend and colleague Tajani,” he says, dispelling doubts about a division between Defense and Foreign Affairs. However, there is evidently a distance: “There are two aspects: one political, which is what Tajani talked about, and then there is the technical part, to see what we are able to give without endangering the need to always preserve Italian Defense,” explains Crosetto. He had just listened to the requests of the new Ukrainian Defense Minister, Rustem Umerov, for long-range missile systems and electronic warfare systems. The Defense’s line, expressed by the Minister himself, is clear: “There is a continuous request from Ukraine for aid; we need to verify what we can give them with respect to what they need, as we do not have unlimited resources.”
On the other hand, the need to guarantee an adequate level of stockpiles to maintain minimum levels of security had already arisen in recent months and does not concern all other European states. According to defense companies, it will take two years for Italy to recover the quantity of ammunition.
These are the technical doubts. Then there are the political concerns, which Giorgia Meloni expresses directly. While the support for Kyiv is not up for discussion, as she reiterated in a phone call with Atlantic allies on Tuesday, the prime minister breaks a taboo: “Price inflation, energy, migration are all consequences of the conflict that impact citizens and generate resistance or risk causing weariness in public opinion. If we want to strongly support Ukraine, we must also pay attention to these consequences,” she said yesterday on Sky Tg24. This position could be softened or reiterated today when she meets Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Granada. Both leaders will be in Spain for the informal European Council preceded by the summit of the European Political Community, but it is not yet clear if their agendas will allow for a bilateral meeting.
In short, the new Italian aid package, announced last Monday by Vice Premier Tajani in Kyiv, has not yet been finalized but is destined to fuel further debate, especially among the opposition. This is mainly because, unlike previous arms deliveries, there are upcoming European elections.
Giuseppe Conte takes a pacifist stance and chooses to strongly criticize the announcement of new military aid, provoking irritation from the PD. “Conte’s rejoicing over the West abandoning the field means that Putin was right to militarily invade a sovereign country, and he can do it again,” attacks PD deputy Debora Serracchiani. Secretary Elly Schlein, who today brought together the party leadership at the Nazarene, avoids engaging in a dispute with the Five Star Movement leader and refrains from discussing weapons. However, she reaffirms the PD’s support for Kyiv: “The invasion of Ukraine is not over. We cannot allow someone to rewrite Europe’s borders with their own army.”