Crosetto defends Italy’s refusal of US base flights as constitutional

Guido Crosetto, Italy’s defence minister, on Tuesday rejected claims of tensions with Washington, a week after Rome denied landing permission to two US military aircraft at the Sigonella base in Sicily.

“We are like a traffic light: we apply the rules. There are no heroes here, just the Constitution,” Crosetto told lawmakers in the Chamber of Deputies.

The US requests were rejected because the planes carried weapons intended for use in operations in the Middle East, for which parliamentary approval is required, and because Washington had requested permission after the aircraft were already airborne. Similar decisions by other European nations have drawn the ire of US President Donald Trump, who has gone as far as suggesting Washington could pull out of the NATO alliance.

“It doesn’t take courage to say no to the United States if they make a request we can’t accept. We aren’t defended by our courage, we’re defended by our respect for the institutions,” Crosetto added.

The minister dismissed suggestions of a shift in Italy’s stance, stressing that successive governments have consistently upheld bilateral agreements with the United States. “No Italian government, from any political side, has ever questioned or failed to implement our bilateral treaties,” he said.

“Many of these agreements, including the 1954 bilateral treaties, remain classified and cannot be declassified by Italy alone, and no government has ever questioned this secrecy,” he added.

Crosetto also pointed to historical data, noting that the Sigonella base has received over 2,000 US flights per year since 2020, with 10% of them categorised as ‘hot cargo’ flights, carrying sensitive or combat-related material.

“Those aircraft passed through in the past despite having operational function because it was found that they were not used for kinetic actions, and this is what is foreseen in the agreements,” he said.

Crosetto underlined that respecting such agreements does not mean Italy is involved in ongoing conflicts. “We are not at war with Iran, and we have no interest in being so,” he said in the hemicycle, adding that Rome has distanced itself from an operation it disagrees with.

“But I don’t think the United States can be simply reduced to Trump, Biden, or Clinton, as much as Italy is not Meloni, Conte, or Draghi. They are two nations that have always been allies, and part of our security is based on their alliance.”

(at, aw)