Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said on Monday that Italy would not be resilient in the event of Russia—or any other country—deciding to invade. He blamed two decades of insufficient investment in national defense, stating
We are not ready for either a Russian attack or an attack from another nation.
Crosetto was speaking during an event marking the recent world tour of the Italian Navy’s training ship, Amerigo Vespucci:
I’ve been saying this for a long time. I believe it is our responsibility to put the country in a position to defend itself if a madman decides to strike us. I’m not saying Putin specifically—I mean anyone. We are not in that position because we haven’t invested in defense over the last 20 years, and you can’t make up for two decades in just one or two years.
Previously Guido Crosetto has promoted his prime minister, Georgia Meloni, to mediate between U.S. president Donald Trump and the European Union, including on matters of global conflict (but not arms sales). He was also the subject of a bounty put out by the Wagner mercenary group, who he accused of orchestrating illegal migration into the EU.
