Crosetto says NATO "has no reason to exist"
Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said on Friday that NATO “no longer has a reason to exist” and that the European Union has no weight on the international scene, reports Politico .
“Previously, the United States and Europe were the center of the world. Now, there is everything else with which to build a relationship,” Crosetto said on the sidelines of a conference in Padua, adding that “we often talk as if we were still living 30 years ago, but everything has changed.”
The minister argues that the military alliance has failed in its original mission and that, therefore, “NATO no longer has a reason to exist. If NATO was created to guarantee peace and mutual defense, then it must become an organization that takes on this task, engaging with the South [of the world] and, thus, becoming something profoundly different — otherwise we will not achieve the objective of having security within rules that apply to everyone. NATO needs to adapt to the new times,” he said.
Regarding the European Union and the United Nations, Crosetto guarantees that they are no longer relevant on the international scene. “We talk about Europe as if it were important. Perhaps it would have been important in the past, if it had assumed a political role that it did not assume, if it had had a foreign or defense policy”, stated the minister, adding: “ Its time is over and I say this with sadness . The world has changed”.
[The police are called to a house after a noise complaint. When they arrive, the officers find a wild birthday party. But the birthday boy, José Valbom, has disappeared. “ O Zé faz 25 ” is Observador’s first fiction podcast, co-produced by Coyote Vadio and featuring the voices of Tiago Teotónio Pereira, Sara Matos, Madalena Almeida, Cristovão Campos, Vicente Wallenstein, Beatriz Godinho, José Raposo and Carla Maciel. You can listen to the 5th episode on Observador’s website , on Apple Podcasts , on Spotify and on Youtube Music . And the first episode here , the second here , the third here and the fourth here ]
The Italian Defense Minister's statements come ahead of a summit of the alliance's leaders in The Hague on June 25, where the 32 leaders will discuss Washington's continued support for Europe's defense, after Donald Trump threatened to stop protecting allies that do not commit to spending 5% of their GDP on defense.
Among the leaders present will be Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Italy has traditionally been one of the alliance's lowest spenders — although the government has said it will meet NATO's current target of spending 2 percent of GDP on defense this year.
Former Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has meanwhile called a counter-NATO summit for the day before the alliance leaders' summit , which the PCP will attend . Conte, also president of the Five Star Movement, called on "all European political representatives to oppose the irresponsible arms race" and to gather in the Dutch Parliament, where the Socialist Party of the Netherlands will host them.
observador
