The issue of defense spending raises the temperature within the majority. So much so that at the end of the day Prime Minister Mario Draghi goes up to the Quirinale to update the head of state Sergio Mattarella from whom he obtains the support to move forward on the line drawn on the increase in military spending to 2% of GDP in compliance with the NATO imperatives.
The day: from the agenda to the climb to the Colle
In the morning the government had accepted an agenda from the Brothers of Italy linked to the Ukrainian decree which commits it to reach the 2% threshold on military spending without a vote request. In the afternoon Giuseppe Conte was received at Palazzo Chigi by the Prime Minister and on leaving he confirmed the opposition of the 5 Star Movement to the adjustment of defense spending. “The senators of the 5 Star Movement asked to vote for him because he would have been rejected,” said the former premier. However, the premier made it clear in the meeting that the government intends to respect and firmly reaffirm the NATO commitments on the increase in military spending. The alternative is the end of the majority agreement, according to Palazzo Chigi.
Ukraine decree, towards the trust of the government
The Ukraine decree will arrive in the Senate on Wednesday 30 March at 6 pm to be approved the following day. The government is ready to ask the question of trust. Meanwhile, the Executive has accepted the agenda of the Brothers of Italy in the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, which commits it to reach the 2 per cent threshold on military spending. Without voting request. «According to the regulation – explained the senator of Fdi, Isabella Rauti – the acceptance without reformulation allows the proponent not to insist on the request for a vote. Since for Fdi the political objective had been reached, confirming the fact that it was not a spite to undermine the majority but the reaffirmation of a principle, we decided not to ask for a vote ». Rauti reported that the request to vote “paradoxically came from some members of the majority, M5s and Leu”.
Conte: increase in military spending would be improvised
In the afternoon Conte met Draghi at Palazzo Chigi. At the exit, the leader of the 5 Star Movement takes the point on the opposition to the increase in defense spending: “At this moment, it seems to us, it would be improvised, but we are left with President Draghi and we will continue to discuss”. And he specifies: “Today there was an agenda presented by the Brothers of Italy that evoked this commitment” to increase military spending up to 2% of GDP, “the senators of the 5 Star Movement asked to vote for it because it would have been rejected” . And again: “Reasonably, the Def will not write” the increase in military spending but “it is a prospect to be addressed on a political level and in terms of political strategies and priorities”. A stumbling block at the moment removed as the Document of economics and finance, initially foreseen in the Council of Ministers for Thursday, will arrive on the table of Palazzo Chigi only on 5 or 6 April after the development of the Mef and accounting.
Conte, however, reassures about the prospect of a crisis and after the premier’s ascent to the Quirinale he says speaking to Di Martedì on La7: «How can we talk about a government crisis? Draghi will also have the right to inform the President but I have not raised any government crisis: I am only saying that if we have to plan a military expenditure, a majority party can discuss the terms, including time limits, to respect this commitment ». And he explains: one thing is the expenditure that is intended to be incurred, “another thing is whether this commitment must be respected in 2024, another by 2028, yet another is to respect it by 2030. We broke up with Draghi, telling each other that we will discuss and that we will deepen ».