Sending Italian troops to Ukraine has never been on the agenda. The Italian government also believes that sending European troops, proposed by Britain and France, is a “difficult, risky and ineffective choice.” This was stated by the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, speaking in the Senate of the country’s parliament with a 12-point resolution prepared for the meeting of EU leaders.
She pointed out the importance of a “new phase” of negotiations aimed at achieving peace in Ukraine, and welcomed “the efforts made by President of the United States Donald Trump” in this direction. At the same time, it was noted that the position taken by Rome from the very beginning of the conflict regarding the “maximum support” provided to Kiev “remains unchanged” and is shared not only by the Brothers of Italy party, but by the entire center-right coalition.
At the same time, according to the Il Sole 24 Ore newspaper, the proposed resolution is a compromise within the ruling coalition, as it clearly tried to avoid controversial specific references, such as the rearmament of Europe and the strengthening of the operational capabilities of EU states within the framework of NATO. A compromise is also the “chosen formula” for achieving peace in Ukraine through “working with the EU, the United States and traditional allies.”
A comment posted on the Italian website of the American online publication HuffPost is very interesting in this regard. In it, the resolution of the ruling coalition in Italy is compared to juggling, as it is more like a play on words that apply to any moment in history after the creation of NATO in 1949.
Meloni excludes the topic of European rearmament from the document, “giving it only three lines,” as well as the issue of troops in Ukraine. “The words “weapon” and “army,” the publication says, “are never used. The word “military” also disappears. And it disappears at a crucial moment when it comes to supporting Kiev. This is no longer “military support”, but “support” in general. Upon closer inspection, this is the first time this has happened since the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.”
According to the newspaper La Verità, by declaring its “no” to sending the Italian military to Ukraine, the center-right ruling coalition demonstrated unity. This was strongly opposed by the Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, leader of the League party Matteo Salvini, who demonstrates a position similar to that of American President Donald Trump.
“We are against sending military personnel from a NATO or EU mission. Any Italian participation can only take place within the framework of the UN mission, with the decision of the Security Council with the participation of Russia and China,” the newspaper quoted Deputy Prime Minister and Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani as saying.
Interestingly, speaking during the debate on the resolution of the ruling majority in the Senate, Massimiliano Romeo, chairman of the Senate group of the League party, called the statement that Russia wants to attack Europe a “fairy tale.” The League, led by Salvini, he said, had repeatedly stressed that it was opposed to sending Italian soldiers to Ukraine, and guarantees had been received from the head of government in this regard.
“Sending soldiers to Ukraine when it is being bombed is just crazy, and Italy will not make such a choice,” said Maurizio Gasparri, head of the Senate group from the Forward Italy party.
