Defence: Italy puts an end to the delay – 8.9 billion from the SAFE funds instead of 14.9 billion

Brussels – Italy will use €8.9 billion in EU funds for defence, €6 billion less than the €14.9 billion Brussels made available to the Meloni government. The Italian government, having announced that it would request the full amount but only at the end of the year and then indicated that it no longer wished to receive the full sum, has finally set aside its reservations following the final figures put forward by the Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani: “We have, so to speak, secured 8.9 billion, so almost 9 billion,” he stated on the sidelines of the Rimini meeting. 

The majority parties’ decision is said to be dictated by wisdom: “Why have we decided to spend less? Because right now we need to invest more in healthcare and social policies,” argues the Foreign Minister. A shift in thinking and policy stems from high fuel prices, which are increasingly becoming a conundrum and a headache for the majority. “The crisis that arose from the war in Iran has brought about changes,” Tajani adds. However, hidden truths lie beneath the surface of his words—namely, the election campaign in which the country and its political life are already immersed. 

The war in Iran has indeed had repercussions on the real economy and on everyday life. Still, the government’s decisions are colliding with an election that is drawing ever closer and a loss of support from the right. Futuro Nazionale and its leader, Roberto Vannacci, are beginning to pose a problem for Tajani’s party, Forza Italia, as well as for that of the Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, Fratelli d’Italia. Meanwhile, within the Lega, Matteo Salvini is seeing his leadership waver precisely because of Vannacci, whom Salvini himself had strongly championed within the party, only to find him now emerging as a challenger with the wind in his sails. 

The government’s decisions are therefore driven more by political calculation than by policy considerations. Talking about healthcare and social policies is a way of attracting votes and support. In this delicate electoral game, it will be necessary to avoid any rifts with Brussels. In this regard, Tajani assures us, “the Ministry of Defence will prepare a series of projects to be submitted to the European Commission to secure the disbursement of these funds,” namely the €8.9 billion of the SAFE fund for defence, to be precise. “The list will then be drawn up based on the Ministry of Defence data, and I believe it will come into use from next year.” This, at least, is according to the plan devised to save face with European partners and voters, in an exercise in political manoeuvring aimed at limiting the damage, one way or another.