Editorial
The Minister of Defense Guido Crosetto today he spoke to the joint Foreign Affairs and Defense Commissions on the occasion of the examination of the analytical report on ongoing international missions and on the state of development cooperation interventions in support of peace and stabilization processes.
The use of Italian soldiers in Ukraine
The minister categorically excludes l'Italy's direct involvement in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which, according to him, would generate an uncontrolled reaction. But defending Ukraine means defending peace and our stability. Furthermore, he clarified Crosetto, the growing assertiveness of China and North Korea is of considerable concern. All these changes must be considered part of a more complex picture. Peace and stability are increasingly at risk and distractions with mannered neutralism are not permitted. We have a total of 36 mission cards, an average of just over 7.500 soldiers expected to be deployed and a maximum authorized contingent of 12 thousand: a commitment that involves a overall financial burden of one billion and 410 million euros. Crosetto also explained, during his speech, that our country presents itself as a valuable military partner and does so with a budget spending significantly lower than that of all the other allies.
A new bill to speed up the approval of military contributions in international organizations
The gravity of the international situation, highlights the head of the Defense Department, requires us to take urgent and effective actions, especially when we have to generate the contributions requested in the contexts of the main international organizations to which we refer. I trust, urges the minister, in the sensitivity of Parliament so thatprocess approval is given as promptly as the circumstances require.
The reference is to the proposal of bill to amend some rules regulating Italy's participation in military missions abroad, to simplify and speed up the approval process.
In this regard Crosetto then argued as follows: “Defense must be able to count on flexible, rapid and effective decision-making processes and be able to quickly generate ready forces. All this leads us to have to review some mechanisms on which law 145 of 2016 is based, which, eight years after its introduction, has shown some limitations, despite the fact that we managed to present the missions resolution within the first quarter, well in advance compared to practice. The new measure aims to facilitate the operational use of units and vehicles engaged in the same geographical area, guaranteeing greater flexibility and timeliness in use, as well as identifying and preparing high and very high readiness forces, to be used when of crisis or emergency situations. The activation of the latter will be arranged with a resolution of the Council of Ministers to be sent to the Chambers for authorization, with a more rapid timing, in line with the needs arising from crisis management. Among the new features, the adoption of a simplified procedure is also envisaged which, by repealing the Prime Ministerial Decree for the distribution of resources, will allow the time for financing missions to be reduced. A regulatory change, I say this clearly, which will not eliminate parliamentary control over financial profiles".
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