The Italian Minister of Defense, Guido Crosetto, assures that Italy needs a force of reservists to support the armed forces "only in the unlikely case of a direct attack." This is explained in an interview published this Monday in La Stampa, where he has indicated that they will be volunteers who, if necessary, can be activated to be alongside the armed forces.
Crosetto's statements follow information that Giorgia Meloni's Executive is working to approve a law to introduce a force of 10,000 reservists that could be made up of ex-military personnel to be used during possible international conflicts or crises to cooperate with the commanders of the Army.
According to Crosetto, the Italian armed forces must change their role after they were transformed “with the idea that there was no need to defend our territory and that peace was an irreversible conquest.” “Now the enclosures have been demolished, there are no more rules,” he indicated, ensuring that the worst scenario is “having to defend oneself within one's own territory.” “I know that it is a difficult speech to accept because we all tend to hide in a comfort zone,” acknowledged the head of Defense, one of Giorgia Meloni's closest collaborators.
In the same interview, the minister announced that Italy will send ships from its navy to join the coalition against the Houthis in the Red Sea, but emphasizing that they will not be able to participate in the bombing unless there is an international resolution or a demand for a allied country. The Italian Government representative considers that this conflict is part of a trade war to alter global rules since "Chinese and Russian ships are not attacked and this is openly announced." Thanks to this, he denounces, his goods have lower prices, in an example of hybrid warfare. “It is the beginning of something different,” he warned.
Furthermore, Crosetto has criticized the Spanish position in the current Red Sea crisis, after Madrid has refused to participate in the future European military operation to guarantee the transit of merchant ships. In his opinion, the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, “puts his political pacts before international security” for an “ideological” issue.
