Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister
Antonio Tajani on Thursday said cohesion funds will not be used
to finance a European defence plan.
Speaking ahead of a summit in Brussels of the European People's
Party (EPP), of which the Forza Italia (FI) party he leads is a
member, Tajani said that he "will stress that we have always
been in favour of European defence, it was the great dream of
(Alcide) De Gasperi and then (Silvio) Berlusconi and if this
dream now comes to fruition it can only be a positive fact", he
noted.
Tajani was referring respectively to the man who was one of the
main protagonists of Italy's post-war reconstruction and one of
the founding fathers of the European Union and to the three-time
premier and media mogul who founded the Forza Italia party now
led by Tajani.
"As far as cohesion funds are concerned, we will not use them
because they must be earmarked to do other things and there is
not concern on this", Tajani explained.
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.
EU leaders will hold initial talks on the proposals on the table
at a meeting on defence and Ukraine scheduled to take place on
Thursday.
Meanwhile, Von der Leyen attended the EPP summit and briefly met
with Tajani before it started on Thursday morning.
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