Premier Giorgia Meloni has called for
guarantees regarding a proposed European defence plan and
reiterated the government's opposition to the deployment of
European troops in Ukraine at an extraordinary summit held in
Brussels on Thursday.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday evening on the sidelines of
the summit on security and Ukraine, the premier said she opposed
using European cohesion funds as part of a proposed 'ReArm plan'
launched by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen
on Tuesday and called for the extension to Ukraine of NATO's
article 5 which states that, if a NATO Ally is the victim of an
armed attack, every member of the Alliance will consider this
act of violence as an armed attack against all members and take
the necessary actions.
Meloni also called for a summit between the European Union and
the US.
"I am very perplexed regarding European troops, I don't consider
it effective", she said about the possibility of deploying them
as part of peacekeeping efforts.
Meloni said she "ruled out" the possibility of sending Italian
soldiers and said it was "better to think about more
long-lasting solutions" such as extending NATO's article 5 to
Ukraine which "would be a long-lasting" step.
The premier also hailed the fact that Italy's proposal against
the possibility of cohesion funds being forcibly used for
defence spending had been accepted.
The Commission had proposed that money countries receive from
the EU's cohesion fundsaimed at equalising living standards
across Europe could also be used for defence purposes.
The European Commission on Tuesday suggested to borrow up to 150
billion euros to lend to EU governments to finance a rearmament
plan prompted by Russia's war in Ukraine and fears that Europe
might no longer be able to lean on US protection.
The announcement came a day after US President Donald Trump
paused military aid to Ukraine.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday
that she could mobilise up to 800 billion euros for European
defence.
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