Italy to send 3,400 troops to strengthen NATO
Insight Online News
Rome, May 19 : Italy will send 3,400 servicepeople using 30 aircraft throughout 2023 to strengthen the NATO eastern flank, Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said on Thursday.
“The Defense Ministry will continue participating in initiatives being implemented by NATO in the eastern flank: the commitments here are significant, providing for a total of 3,400 in military personnel throughout 2023, which in equipment means 600 units, five maritime and about 30 airborne units,” Crosetto told a joint session of the parliamentary foreign affairs and defense committees, as quoted by Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.
The minister added that the military plans to deploy a warship “with air and missile defense capabilities in the Baltic Sea as a contribution to strengthening the Polish and Euro-Atlantic airspace.”
Italian soldiers will participate in 43 missions abroad, including nine NATO missions, 13 missions of the European Union, and seven United Nations missions, the cost of which will amount to 1.3 billion euros ($1.4 billion), Crosetto added.
