Crosetto: "Ukraine in the EU? Difficult. Now the goal is to secure peace"

Ukraine’s entry into the EU? “Everyone knows, including the Germans, that it is very difficult. Not only politically, but because if it entered Europe, with its size and its economic system, there would immediately be a very serious crisis in the agricultural sector for many EU countries that no one, not even the Germans, can afford.”

The Minister of Defense, Guido Crosetto, is certain of this, who, after the two days in Singapore, at the forum on Asian security, interviewed by Corriere della Sera, says he is convinced that “we need to reach a truce. Then, we must prepare to lock down peace. Russia could also stop for a while, but if it doesn’t see that the other side is prepared, it could attack again. Even more so since the US has said that it will no longer be able to take responsibility for Europe’s security alone. And indeed NATO countries have committed to raising defense resources to 3.5% of GDP in the short term. A commitment which, regardless of the economic situation of the moment, in my opinion would be right and prudent to respect. For us, not for them.”

A large common European defense system

Crosetto explains that he has also spoken about it with his colleagues in Singapore: “It is increasingly urgent organize a large common European defense system that goes beyond the current EU 27 borderswhich includes Great Britain, Norway, the Balkans and also Ukraine. On the other hand, today they clearly have the most important and strongest army. I don’t think anyone could oppose a system like this because it would guarantee everyone. Obviously, once a truce and peace were reached. This would truly be an effective deterrent system.”

Diplomacy, the US-Iran agreement and the Italian role

Faced with a world on fire across multiple quadrants, for the Defense Minister, it is vital to insist “on the need to stubbornly find spaces for diplomacy, dialogue and peace. On the USA and Iran it seems we are close to a reopening of Hormuz after an agreement which only lacks Trump’s signature. And we Italians are ready immediately after the parliamentary steps: the ships are already in the Gulf for mine clearance work which will be immediately useful in freeing up a vital stretch of sea for international trade and traffic. But it will also be because those who go directly to carry out certain operations then enjoy the return of gratitude from those who receive help.”

Support for Meloni and the attack on EU bureaucracy

And if for Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni the priority battle today in Europe does not seem to be that of security, but that of obtaining flexibility not only on defense spending but also on energy, with the opposition of the ‘frugal countries’, Crosetto replies: “Meloni is absolutely right and I think the so-called ‘frugal’ countries talk down their energy reserves, oil reserves, huge sovereign wealth funds or an ideological approach to the budget. I believe that Europe should be asked for even more resources: we need to remove rules and constraints that make us slow, inefficient, elephantine. There is too much bureaucracy and too little pragmatism. This kills Europe as a political entity because those who work in the world compare it and feel it is distant, deaf, slow and an enemy.”