Italy’s Messina bridge sparks NATO spending row with US 

The US has warned European allies against using creative accounting to meet NATO’s 5% spending target, a warning seen as directed at Italy’s controversial plan to classify the Strait of Messina bridge as a military expense. 

In an interview with Bloomberg, US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said several allies were taking “a very broad view” of defence costs and stressed that contributions must be “specifically related to defence.”  

“I’m following this closely,” he said of the €13.8 billion Messina project, citing new monitoring mechanisms that make the process more transparent than under NATO’s 2014 Wales summit. 

Italy’s infrastructure ministry on Wednesday sought to defuse tensions, insisting the bridge is “already financed” and that tapping NATO funds “is neither on the table nor an indispensable requirement.” 

Still, members of the Italian government, including Transport Minister Matteo Salvini, have repeatedly touted the bridge as a potential “dual use” project for both civilian and military purposes. 

“That it can have a dual use, also for security reasons, is obvious,” Salvini said on 6 August, adding that any final decision on counting it towards NATO spending rests with the finance and defence ministers. 

Opposition parties rejected the idea. Five Star MEP Pasquale Tridico called the bridge a “cathedral in the desert” while Calabria suffers crumbling roads, outdated hospitals and water shortages.  

Green MP Angelo Bonelli said NATO’s pushback exposes the government’s claims of strategic value are “a fairy tale.” 

(de)