Rome, 18 June (LaPresse) – “If you want to be part of NATO and have a defensive alliance, you honour your commitments. Otherwise, you decide to stay out, but at that point defending yourself would cost a thousand times more.” This was stated by Defence Minister Guido Crosetto at the conclusion of the NATO Ministerial Meeting in Brussels. “These are not signs of distress on my part. I’ll say it as clearly as possible: if you’re part of an alliance, and if the alliance decides that nations must make commitments, then either you make those commitments and honour them – each in their own time, with their own difficulties, each implementing them as they see fit – or you leave the alliance,” he added. “The issue isn’t whether to do it in one year or five; the commitment is for 2035. But if you want to be part of the alliance, that commitment must be honoured. It isn’t something to be debated, something you have to do straight away, immediately, in this Budget or the next, but it is a commitment that concerns our country. The alternative, I repeat, is to stand alone. Standing alone in this world would mean investing 10 per cent, 15 per cent, 20 per cent to defend ourselves. It would be even more impossible, even more difficult,” he added.
NATO, Crosetto: “Commitments must be honoured; otherwise, you stay out”
Rome, 18 June (LaPresse) – “If you want to be part of NATO and have a defensive alliance, you honour your commitments. Otherwise, you decide to stay out, but at that point defending yourself would cost a thousand times more.” This was stated by Defence Minister Guido Crosetto at the conclusion of the NATO Ministerial Meeting in Brussels. “These are not signs of distress on my part. I’ll say it as clearly as possible: if you’re part of an alliance, and if the alliance decides that nations must make commitments, then either you make those commitments and honour them – each in their own time, with their own difficulties, each implementing them as they see fit – or you leave the alliance,” he added. “The issue isn’t whether to do it in one year or five; the commitment is for 2035. But if you want to be part of the alliance, that commitment must be honoured. It isn’t something to be debated, something you have to do straight away, immediately, in this Budget or the next, but it is a commitment that concerns our country. The alternative, I repeat, is to stand alone. Standing alone in this world would mean investing 10 per cent, 15 per cent, 20 per cent to defend ourselves. It would be even more impossible, even more difficult,” he added.
