Italy's Meloni urges NATO rethink on defence spending as Rome lifts outlays

By Crispian Balmer

ROME, June 11 (Reuters) - Italy will ramp up its official defence budget this year, but NATO allies should rethink military priorities as warfare is transformed by drones, satellites and data, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Thursday.

Addressing parliament, Meloni said she would tell a NATO summit in July that Italy would spend some 2.8% of national output on defence and security in 2026, an increase of some 0.71 percentage points on last year.

The bulk of this increase will come from spending linked to domestic security, including some police duties, with Italy taking advantage of NATO rules to include items in its budget that were previously excluded.

However, Meloni warned against a debate focused solely on headline spending targets, saying the war in Ukraine had shown that modern military power could not be measured simply by traditional weapons systems or the volume of expenditure.

PLAYSTATION POINTS TO NEW BATTLEGROUND REALITY

Pointing to Ukraine, Meloni said the frontline was blocked and swarming with drones. "Nothing moves because of this, and we have seen tanks costing millions of euros destroyed by drones that cost on average €20,000 ($23,000)," Meloni said.

She said Western allies needed to assess "the value of a well-positioned satellite compared with a well-positioned tank or a well-positioned aircraft carrier," adding that data had to be defended strategically.

"There are countries that, rather than recruiting soldiers, are training kids who are used to playing PlayStation, preparing those kids to pilot drones remotely in a possible war," she said. "This is a debate the West must have."

U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly accused European governments of underinvesting in their militaries and relying too heavily on U.S. protection, urging European and Asian allies to raise defence spending to 3.5% of GDP.

UK RESIGNATION HIGHLIGHTS BUDGET BATTLES

Underscoring the tensions surrounding military spending, British Defence Minister John Healey quit on Thursday in a dispute over military spending, accusing Prime Minister Keir Starmer of failing to commit the resources that he said were needed to keep the country safe from heightened threats.

Italy's Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said he understood Healey's decision, adding that other defence ministers were grappling with the same feelings.

"I have chosen to wait for less difficult times, hoping for a positive evolution of the current circumstances," Crosetto wrote on X. "I do not know whether the path I have chosen is the right one ... but the signals I have received lead me to believe that a more conscious understanding is emerging."

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(Reporting by Crispian Balmer and Angelo Amante, editing by Alvise Armellini)