Only 16pc of Italians would fight for their country

Telegraph

19-07-2025

Only 16 per cent of Italians would be willing to fight for their country, a survey shows.
The Centre for Social Investment Studies (CENSIS) found that almost a third of Italians believe the country will be directly involved in a war within five years, but fewer than one in six of those of fighting age would be willing to take up arms.
After years of escalating geopolitical tensions and two ongoing wars nearby, in Ukraine and the Middle East, Italy has joined other Nato nations in pledging to ramp up national defence spending.
But that has not translated to a fresh desire to join the military.
Some 39 per cent of Italians aged between 18 and 45 would declare themselves as pacifist conscientious objectors in the event of war, while 19 per cent would try to evade conscription another way, and 26 per cent would prefer Italy to hire foreign mercenaries.
Despite a 46 per cent rise in defence spending over the past decade, Italy is one of Nato's lowest military spenders, targeting only 1.49 per cent of its gross domestic product for its military last year.
Italy has also refused to participate in Donald Trump's plan to send US-made weapons to Ukraine.
Governments across Europe are pondering whether to take part in the $10bn initiative, which will involve Ukraine's allies on the continent, along with Canada, buying 'top of the range' weapons – including Patriot air defence systems – from Washington before giving them to Kyiv.
The Italian government has stated that it will not purchase weapons but may assist with the logistics of transporting them to Ukraine, according to Italian media reports.
'Here, there has never been talk of buying American weapons,' the source quoted by the La Stampa newspaper said.
To ensure Italy's security, 49 per cent of all Italians are in favour of strengthening Nato, while 58 per cent would like to see an integrated European Union defence system, with a single army, under a unified command and joint weapons procurement.
Last month, Italy said it would count the £11 billion cost of a bridge to Sicily as defence spending to meet Nato's 5 per cent of GDP military expenditure target.
Giorgia Meloni, the prime minister, is in the process of rebadging the ailing project to build a crossing over the Strait of Messina as a strategic decision vital for the Western alliance's presence in the Mediterranean.
She has argued that the bridge would strengthen Europe's defences by facilitating easier troop movements to the four military bases in Sicily.
By listing the crossing as a military asset, it can be counted towards the new Nato goal, which demands fresh expenditure on defence-related infrastructure.
The move mirrors efforts by Sir Keir Starmer to boost Britain's defence spending by reclassifying swathes of infrastructure projects as vital to national security.
The Prime Minister will use any Government expenditure on rural broadband and the expansion of Heathrow airport to meet Nato's goal of spending 1.5 per cent of GDP on defence-related infrastructure.