(ANSA) - ROME, FEBRUARY 16 - The decision to allocate 2% of the Pila to defense expenditure "was not made by me, it dates back to 2014 and was reiterated by all the governments that followed. I was the only one to having told yesterday's NATO meeting that 2% is a difficult target to achieve, given the financial conditions. We are at 1.38%, hence the proposal to separate defense expenditure from budget constraints".
Otherwise "we will be the 'Pierini' of NATO, the only ones not to reach the 2% target when others are already talking about 3% or 4%".
This was stated by Defense Minister Guido Crosetto in his hearing on the programmatic lines of the joint commissions for Defense of the Chamber and Foreign Affairs and Senate Defense.
"NATO - underlined Crosetto - is not a warmonger: there is a perception of insecurity in the world, the international scenario is problematic. Not only for Ukraine, I am worried about the southern front where terrorism is growing: the main theme in next few years it will be Africa".
(HANDLE).