Italy will arrive at NATO Dell’Asa Summit (scheduled for next 24-25 June 2025) with a clear agenda. The Meloni government is in fact preparing a Defense strengthening plan which will bring military spending to 2% of GDP by 2028, with an intermediate step around 1.38% already in 2025.
The path provides for gradual increases and the reset of some budget items, in line with the requests of the alliance.
In the Italian plan, for example, the resources of the meteorological service, of the Coast Guard and the funds for migratory policies, all items that the government intends to consider in defense expenditure.
Furthermore We plan to enhance large infrastructure works As military expenses: the costs of “key” logistical works such as the new bridge over the Strait of Messina, called “military work”, would return to defense investments.
Italy around 3.5% of the GDP for defense
NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte, is pushing for a more ambitious distribution of resources between the member countries: the 3.5% of the GDP destined every year to the armaments and a further 1.5% to strategic infrastructuresindustry and safety. The idea is to make the plan manageable also for states with structural delays, such as Italy, offering a more gradual but binding approach.
Italy has given its support to the project, aligning with the United Kingdom for achieve the objectives by 2035. In the meantime, the Meloni government plans to communicate to the summit that 2% of the GDP dedicated to military spending will be reality by 2025. This result will be possible thanks to the inclusion of innovative budget items, such as the bridge over the Strait, identified not only as an infrastructure work but also as a strategic asset for defense.
The bridge over the Strait, key infrastructure for NATO security
Here it is worth making a brief study. The Meloni government focuses on the bridge on the narrow as an element Key of a defense and infrastructure development strategy. In the dossier sent to Brussels, Meloni and Minister Matteo Salvini said that the road and railway work between Calabria and Sicily must be recognized as “strategic military infrastructure”.
The project, according to the government, would allow a rapid movement of troops and heavy vehicles from northern Europe to the Mediterranean in the event of crisis, optimizing the transfer of the forces born to the South.
Recognizing it as a defense work, the bridge would also contribute to increasing the Italian military spending as a percentage on GDP, thus responding to the objectives shared with the allies. This move on the one hand makes international objectives easily achieved and on the other accelerates the works of a complex increasingly criticized both from an environmental and logistical point of view.
The allies and Italy what are the new transatlantic relationships
On the transatlantic level, Italy aims at strengthen dialogue with Washington and allies with concrete actions and strategic statements. In February 2025, Giorgia Meloni proposed a summit between the United States and Europe to face global challenges, with particular attention to the war in Ukraine. Among the government initiatives, a bilateral declaration with the USA for energy cooperation stands out, which includes projects related to liquefied natural gas.
THE‘Italy is regulating its policies to the new priorities of NATOincluding a gradual growth of military expenditure. These investments are considered essential not only to respond to threats on the eastern side, but also to manage tensions in Asia-Pacific.
The United States, which see in China a primary threat and want to detach themselves from the old continent in terms of commitment in defense, push Europe to strengthen their defensive role.
Strategic collaborations with France and European commitments
A further piece of Meloni’s strategy is the rapprochement with France, Especially after the last summit with Macron. After a period of tensions, the dialogue between the two countries was relaunched with a summit that placed crucial themes for NATO and Europe in the center.
The priorities emerge the stabilization of Africa and greater European autonomy on defense, objectives that reflect the requests of the United States of a more active role by the European allies.
