Mariani says Italy can skip the EU loans without hurting Leonardo.
The EU’s SAFE defence loan instrument should be used “to first unite core Europe and then extend it to NATO member countries,” Leonardo CEO Lorenzo Mariani told Euractiv on the sidelines of NATO’s Industry Forum in Ankara.
Despite highlighting the partnership Leonardo has with Turkish drone manufacturer Baykar as “an example of success” and the strategic importance of cooperating and boosting industrial collaboration with Turkey within NATO, Mariani argued SAFE should strengthen the EU’s industrial base first before opening more broadly to non-EU allies.
“The priority should be to consolidate programmes that genuinely shape the European industrial base,” he said, stressing that this was “nothing against Turkey.”
Ankara has been pushing for deeper integration with Europe when it comes to defence but is shut out of EU programmes over political disagreements with Greece, and Cyprus primarily.
