Italy to request EU defense loan after all, but scales back amount

ROME — Italy has requested €8 billion euros ($9.3 billion) in cheap loans from the European Union’s SAFE defense funding program after delaying a decision for months amid opposition to the plan from within the Italian government.

The late decision marks a step back from original plans to tap the scheme for €14.9 billion euros in loans for defense procurement.

Italy’s right-wing government led by Giorgia Meloni has hesitated over the low-cost loans, which are being offered by the EU to help member states beef up military readiness in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and President Trump’s demands that NATO members spend more on defense.

Meloni herself suggested Italy would not take out the loans as the League party - a member of her ruling coalition - said public spending should be prioritized over defense spending.

That view is shared by opposition parties as well as a sizable number of Italian voters ahead of national elections next year.

The decision to apply for €8 billion in loans was confirmed to Defense News on Wednesday by a source knowledgeable of talks with the EU.

When Italy first considered applying for loans from the bloc’s €150 billion SAFE warchest it planned to spend cash on programs including new Lynx armored fighting vehicles and Panther tanks that local defense firm Leonardo is building for the Italian army with Germany’s Rheinmetall.

The deal envisages the delivery of 1,050 Lynx vehicles and 272 Panther tanks as part of a €23 billion euro deal.

In July, Italian defense minister Guido Crosetto said Italy would however cut 18% in costs from the program, suggesting possible delays and order number reductions.

Speaking at last month’s NATO summit in Turkey, Meloni said, “Today, what we are seeing in Ukraine is that a tank worth millions can be destroyed by a drone worth 20,000 euros, and that a person trained to fly drones remotely can be more lethal than a sniper. A reflection is therefore needed on how we invest.”

Last year, Italy said it pushed defense spending from 1.54% of GDP to around %, albeit by reconfiguring existing expenditures as defense spending.

Speaking at the NATO summit, Meloni said spending rose to 2.8% in 2026, although the rise is mainly accounted for by spending on domestic security rather than defense programs.

Tom Kington is the Italy correspondent for Defense News.

罗马——意大利在因意大利政府内部反对该计划而推迟数月后，已向欧盟的SAFE国防融资计划申请80亿欧元（93亿美元）的低息贷款。

这一迟来的决定标志着与最初利用该计划获得 149 亿欧元国防采购贷款的计划相比，出现了倒退。

由乔治娅·梅洛尼领导的意大利右翼政府对欧盟提供的低成本贷款犹豫不决。这些贷款旨在帮助成员国在俄罗斯入侵乌克兰和特朗普总统要求北约成员国增加国防开支之后加强军事准备。

梅洛尼本人曾表示，意大利不会贷款，因为她的执政联盟成员联盟党表示，公共支出应该优先于国防支出。

反对党以及明年即将举行全国大选的相当一部分意大利选民也持相同观点。

周三，一位了解与欧盟谈判情况的消息人士向《防务新闻》证实了申请 80 亿欧元贷款的决定。

意大利最初考虑从欧盟 1500 亿欧元的 SAFE 战争基金中申请贷款时，计划将资金用于包括新型 Lynx 装甲战车和 Panther 坦克在内的项目，这些坦克是当地国防公司 Leonardo 与德国莱茵金属公司合作为意大利军队建造的。

该协议计划交付 1050 辆 Lynx 装甲车和 272 辆 Panther 坦克，总价值 230 亿欧元。

7 月，意大利国防部长圭多·克罗塞托表示，意大利将削减该项目 18% 的成本，这暗示着可能会出现延误和订单数量减少的情况。

梅洛尼在上个月于土耳其举行的北约峰会上表示：“如今，我们在乌克兰看到的是，价值数百万欧元的坦克可以被价值2万欧元的无人机摧毁，而受过远程操控无人机训练的人比狙击手更具杀伤力。因此，我们需要反思我们的投资方式。”

去年，意大利表示，尽管将现有支出重新调整为国防开支，但已将国防开支从占GDP的1.54%提高到约%。

梅洛尼在北约峰会上表示，到 2026 年，支出将增长 2.8%，但这一增长主要归因于国内安全支出，而不是国防项目支出。

汤姆·金顿是《防务新闻》驻意大利记者。