Italy will significantly increase its defence and security spending next year, but Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni argued that NATO allies should focus less on spending targets and more on adapting to the changing nature of warfare.
Addressing parliament on Thursday, Meloni said she would inform NATO leaders at next month's summit that Italy plans to allocate around 2.8% of GDP to defence and security in 2026, up from last year's level. Much of the increase will come from domestic security spending, including certain police functions that can now be counted under updated NATO guidelines.
Meloni cautioned against judging military strength solely by defence budgets or conventional weapons systems. She said the conflict in Ukraine had demonstrated how rapidly battlefield realities are evolving.
According to Meloni, drones have transformed the front line, making movement difficult and allowing relatively inexpensive systems to destroy costly military hardware.
She argued that NATO members should reassess the strategic value of assets such as satellites, data infrastructure and cyber capabilities alongside traditional equipment like tanks and aircraft carriers.
Highlighting the growing role of technology in warfare, Meloni said some countries are investing in training young people with gaming skills to operate drones remotely in future conflicts.
She suggested that data protection and digital capabilities are becoming as important as conventional military assets, calling for a broader debate among Western allies about how to prepare for future security challenges.
The discussion comes as U.S. President Donald Trump continues to press NATO allies to spend more on defence, arguing that European governments have relied too heavily on American military support. Trump has urged allies in Europe and Asia to increase defence spending to 3.5% of GDP.
The debate has also exposed tensions within allied governments. Britain's Defence Secretary John Healey resigned on Thursday following a dispute over military funding, saying the government had not committed sufficient resources to address growing security threats.
Italy's Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said he understood Healey's frustrations, noting that many defence ministers face similar challenges as governments balance security demands with budget pressures.
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Disruption in the Strait of Hormuz has increased the strategic importance of Bab al-Mandab, raising fears that instability in both waterways could trigger a wider global energy and trade crisis.
Flights at Catania airport in Sicily will remain suspended until early Friday as ash from Mount Etna continues to disrupt air travel, following hundreds of cancellations and diversions over the past week.
Iran says the Strait of Hormuz remains under its control, rejecting U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim of “total control” over the strategic waterway and insisting it will not reopen until Washington fulfils its commitments under an interim deal.
Iran and the United States remain at loggerheads over efforts to agree a permanent end to the war in the Gulf, according to a senior Iranian source who said there had been no progress in talks to revive the interim deal agreed in June and define a timeframe to implement it.
Russia has accused Ukraine of threatening global grain supplies after recent strikes on Black Sea agricultural infrastructure, while Moscow carried out a new overnight attack on Ukraine’s major Danube port of Izmail.
At least 437 civilians were killed and 2,610 injured in Ukraine in July, according to UN investigators, marking the highest monthly civilian casualty toll since March 2022.
Record rainfall in Japan killed eight people and stranded thousands of travellers at Tokyo's Narita Airport on Friday, as flooding disrupted transport and cut power to 20,000 homes.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 14th of August, covering the latest developments.
Hundreds of flights have been cancelled or rerouted at Catania Airport over the past week as ash from Mount Etna’s ongoing eruption continues to disrupt air travel in Sicily.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) Ebola outbreak has spread to a sixth province. A man died of the virus in Bas-Uélé in the north, the African Union’s health agency said.
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