(Adnkronos) – Germany’s rebuilding of its armed forces after years of neglect and its vow to form Europe’s “strongest conventional army” will enhance Italy’s security, defence minister Guido Crosetto said on Wednesday.
“That Germany is rebuilding the armed forces that it had after decade of neglect is also important for Italy’s defence,” Crosetto tol SkyTg24 Live In.
“I do not see this as antagonistic, but as something that also brings security to Italy,” Crosetto said.
In his first major speech to parliament last month, Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz vowed to build up Europe’s “strongest conventional army.
Germany as Europe’s largest economy would hit a new target for Nato spending of 5% of GDP by 2032, Merz told lawmakers.
Merz visited Lithuania on 22 May to mark Berlin’s first permanent foreign troop deployment to the country since World War II in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
“Together with our partners, we are determined to defend Alliance territory against any aggression. The security of our Baltic allies is also our security,” Merz said in a speech in Vilnius.
“Russia’s aggressive revisionism”, which aims to redraw the European map, creates grave security risks for the entire continent, not just Ukraine, Merz said at a news conference with Lithuania’s president Gitanas Nauseda during his visit.
Germany has no nuclear weapons of its own.
