Ten-year target. Italy seeks a “ten-year period to reach 5 per cent” of GDP on defence and security spending, with “year-by-year flexibility,” Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani declared on Thursday, welcoming NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in Rome.
- Rutte met with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in the morning for a discussion to prepare for the upcoming NATO summit in The Hague (24–26 June 2025), focusing on collective security spending and building an increasingly innovative, competitive defence industry in tandem with the EU.
- In a one-hour tête-à-tête at Palazzo Chigi, the two reviewed Europe’s collective security and Italy’s role in bolstering an innovative, competitive defence industry in tandem with the EU.
- They affirmed unwavering support for Ukraine and the Alliance’s “360-degree approach” to Euro-Atlantic security, according to a note from the Prime Minister’s Office.
Rutte at Villa Madama. Later the same day, Rutte joined the Weimar Plus foreign ministers’ meeting at Villa Madama alongside delegates from Germany, Poland, Spain, the United Kingdom, France, Ukraine, and European Union and NATO institutions.
- He lauded Italy’s robust defence industrial base—citing Leonardo and numerous SMEs—and urged fellow Allies to ramp up military production in time for the June NATO summit.
Crosetto in the Senate. During a question time in the Senate, Defence Minister Guido Crosetto clarified Italy’s stance on increased military outlays.
- He stressed that rising defence budgets reflect “changed global conditions” rather than a “militaristic impulse.”
- Crosetto added that any decision on the 5 per cent GDP target would be made collectively at the upcoming NATO summit and that Italy has not formally or informally endorsed a 5 per cent goal.
- “Any increase in military spending will have to go through Parliament,” said Crosetto, reassuring the opposition that “there will be no repercussions on healthcare, social welfare, or the ecological transition to finance defence expenditure.”
Italy seeks flexibility. Italy, burdened by a public debt exceeding 3,000 billion euros, proposes—backed by the UK—to reach a 5 per cent defence and security spending share by 2035.
- Rutte is pushing for NATO members to boost defence spending to 3.5% of GDP and commit a further 1.5% to broader security-related spending to meet US President Donald Trump’s demand for a 5% target.
- Informal governmental estimates suggest that Italy would need to scale its annual budgets from the current approximately €45 billion (2 per cent of GDP) to approximately €80 billion for the 3.5 per cent tranche, rising to nearly €110 billion for the full package.
How to get there. To avoid breaching EU fiscal rules, Italy is pressing for broad definitions of eligible expenditure.
- Proposed inclusions encompass civil-military infrastructure, including new roads, bridges (such as the proposed Strait of Messina bridge), pipelines, and undersea cables to support military mobility and energy security.
- NATO is reportedly considering counting long-term Ukraine assistance within the spending criteria, which could ease the burden on national budgets and recognise existing commitments to Kyiv.
