Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met Thursday with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in Rome forward of a key transatlantic alliance summit in The Hague later this month, the place collective protection spending is anticipated to dominate the agenda.
Meloni’s workplace mentioned the assembly allowed for “an in-depth exchange in preparation for the next NATO summit.”
The leaders mentioned “collective security spending and the construction of an increasingly innovative and competitive defense industry, in complementarity with the EU,” the assertion mentioned.
“During the meeting, support for Ukraine and the role of the Atlantic Alliance as an essential pillar for collective defense were reaffirmed, as well as the importance of a 360-degree approach to Euro-Atlantic security,” Meloni’s workplace added.
US President Donald Trump is anticipated to attend the NATO summit in The Hague, which can happen later this month, the place his calls for for Europe to ramp up protection spending will doubtless dominate the agenda.
Trump has lengthy criticized NATO companions for not paying their share of safety bills and this summit in The Hague would be the first with the alliance since his return to energy.
Italy is considered one of NATO’s lowest defense-spending contributors, with lower than 1.5% of its output invested in protection in 2024, effectively under NATO’s present 2% goal.
Trump has requested allies pledge to spend 5% on the upcoming summit at The Hague.
Rome has introduced it’ll meet the two% goal this 12 months, whereas Rutte has proposed a cut up goal of three.5% spending on core protection capabilities, plus one other 1.5% on associated areas equivalent to cyber safety and infrastructure.
Source: www.anews.com.tr