Italy's Meloni meets NATO's Rutte in Rome ahead of key summit in The Hague
Leaders discuss hot topic of collective defense spending set to dominate the transatlantic summit agenda of late-June meeting
Credit: ITALIAN PRIME MINISTRY / PALAZZO CHIGI / HANDOUT' Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni meets NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the Chigi Palace in Rome, Italy on November 5, 2024.
ROME
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met Thursday with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in Rome ahead of a key transatlantic alliance summit in The Hague later this month, where collective defense spending is expected to dominate the agenda.
Meloni’s office said the meeting allowed for “an in-depth exchange in preparation for the next NATO summit.”
The leaders discussed “collective security spending and the construction of an increasingly innovative and competitive defense industry, in complementarity with the EU,” the statement said.
“During the meeting, support for Ukraine and the role of the Atlantic Alliance as an essential pillar for collective defense were reaffirmed, as well as the importance of a 360-degree approach to Euro-Atlantic security,” Meloni’s office added.
US President Donald Trump is expected to attend the NATO summit in The Hague, which will take place later this month, where his demands for Europe to ramp up defense spending will likely dominate the agenda.
Trump has long criticized NATO partners for not paying their share of security expenses and this summit in The Hague will be the first with the alliance since his return to power.
Italy is one of NATO’s lowest defense-spending contributors, with less than 1.5% of its output invested in defense in 2024, well below NATO's existing 2% target.
Trump has requested allies pledge to spend 5% at the upcoming summit at The Hague.
Rome has announced it will meet the 2% target this year, while Rutte has proposed a split target of 3.5% spending on core defense capabilities, plus another 1.5% on related areas such as cyber security and infrastructure.
