After the declarations of the secretary general of the AIAD, Carlo Festucci, last January 9 in the Defense Committee of the Chamber, about the scarce attention placed by the Executive on the gaps of the national defense system (v.articolo), now it is the turn of the vice president of IAI (Ististato Affari Internazionali), Michele Nones, to declare that the Italian defense is at risk.
His is an appeal to the Government to review the most urgent defense files, sacrificed on the altar of emergency measures (citizenship income and 100 quota).
For example, there is the decree for the aeronautical industry, which identifies the financing for the civil technological industry envisaged by the 808 / 85 law. Announced by the Minister of Economic Development Luigi Di Maio last February: so far the traces have been lost. As well as that for military programs, announced, on the same occasion, as close to being issued.
Again according to Nones, the Mise funds have disappeared which, for some years now, have covered a large part of the direct investment in the acquisition of the main weapon systems. The only reference is the multi-year Planning Document (2018-2020) of Defense, presented by Minister Trenta in October of the 2018.
He represented - notes the vice president of IAI - a real book of dreams, given that it has not taken into account the cuts announced by the Government since its establishment and then specified in the 2019 Budget Law presented simultaneously and then approved at the end of the year.
The absolute insensitivity to defense issues seriously undermines the credibility of the country system, starting from the commitments within NATO. We try to hide not only the missed Italian progress towards the 2% target of GDP for defense spending by the 2024, but also the steps back, writes Nones.
The proposal put forward by Italy to include in the calculation also the expenditure (such as) for cyber security and for that of civil infrastructures usable for military purposes is strongly perplexing. These measures risk producing undesirable effects: raise the bar, also watering down military expenses and devaluing their specificity and essentiality, and maintaining, if not increasing, the Italian posting, because we are certainly not virtuous even in these fields. If after five years we are still at 1,15% of GDP, it means that we should almost double them, increasing them on average by 15% a year; considering the economic and financial situation of Italy, this objective is simply ridiculous, unless, by keeping costs constant and pursuing a happy decrease, the aim is to decrease the denominator instead of increasing the numerator.
Photo: Ministry of Defense
