The Italian prime minister warned that security 'is not measured solely through military capabilities'
Rome has threatened to pull out of the EU’s flagship SAFE rearmament programme unless Brussels extends fiscal “escape clause” measures to allow spending to protect Italy from the Middle East energy crisis.
A letter to Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, from Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister, calls on her to suspend EU spending rules, currently relaxed for defence or rearmament spending, to also cover energy measures.
“We cannot justify to our citizens that the EU allows financial flexibility to be used for security and defence purposes in the strictest sense, but not to protect families, workers and enterprises from a new energy crisis that threatens to severely impact the real economy,” said the letter, seen by Euractiv
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