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Italy’s got a plan to beef up its defense spending to 5% of GDP.
And if you believe that, they’ve got a bridge in Sicily to sell you.
Italy said it will meet President Trump’s new demands on NATO members to spend much more on defense. But there’s a $16 billion catch, according to Politico.
The country could reclassify a proposal for the world’s longest suspension bridge as national security expenditure, the news outlet reported.
Rome has one of the smallest military budgets within the alliance by percentage — with only 1.49% of GDP going to its military each year.
That amounted to about $34 billion in 2024, less than 4% of the US military budget.
That means the country faces a massive uphill climb to boost its military spending to meet the US-demanded target of 5% by 2035.
Now, the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has come up with a novel way to increase defense spending, by redefining a planned new bridge to Sicily as military expenditure.
The proposed crossing over the Strait of Messina which, at more than two miles long, has been a dream of leaders in Rome dating back to the ancient Roman emperors.
However, the many challenges facing such an undertaking — including the massive cost — has put the project on hold for decades.
Italian authorities now claim that the bridge has strategic value to NATO, rather than just an economic role, as laid out in a government report in April.
“The bridge over the Strait of Messina also has strategic importance for national and international security, so much so that it will play a key role in defense and security, facilitating the movement of Italian armed forces and NATO allies,” a report stated.
Italy’s loophole might also be totally allowable under NATO rules.
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Of the 5% GDP NATO target, only 3.5% must be on core defense spending, while 1.5% can be on broader strategic projects such as infrastructure.
Officially, the Strait of Messina is outside of Italy’s only designated military mobility corridor, which goes from the Puglia region in the southeast of the country and crosses the Adriatic Sea to Albania, continuing to North Macedonia and Bulgaria.
Final authorization of the project is expected in July, Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said last week.
He proposed naming the bridge after Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s late prime minister who became infamous for his “bunga bunga” parties and financial scandals.
Opposition parties have called the proposed bridge a massive waste of money.
“This is a mockery of the citizens and of the commitments made at NATO. I doubt that this bluff by the government will be accepted,” Giuseppe Antoci from the left-wing populist 5Star Movement told Politico.
“The government should stop and avoid making an international fool of itself, which would cover Italy in ridicule,” he added.
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