Rome – December 6, 2025 – Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni declared Friday evening that Europe must develop the capacity to defend itself if it ever wants to be taken seriously as a global power, describing the continent’s growing security autonomy as “an inevitable process and a great opportunity.”
Appearing on the popular La7 programme TgLa7 just hours after the White House published President Donald Trump’s new National Security Strategy, Meloni directly addressed the document’s stark warning that Europe risks becoming “unrecognisable in 20 years or less” unless it reverses its current trajectory on migration, birth rates, free speech, and supranational governance.
“Relying on others for your security always comes with a price,” Meloni said. “If Europe wants to count on the international stage, it has to be able to protect itself. That has an economic cost, of course, but above all it gives us political freedom.”
Far from seeing the Trump administration’s blunt language as an insult, Meloni portrayed it as a useful reality check. “I do not see a ‘crack’ in transatlantic relations,” she insisted. “The document articulates a situation that has existed for years. Some of the observations about European politics are ones I share.”
On the Russia-Ukraine war, Meloni reaffirmed Italy’s unwavering support for Kyiv. “Our position has been crystal clear since day one,” she said. “We help Ukraine because that is how you build peace. Real peace is built through deterrence, not just good intentions.” She stressed that any negotiated settlement must respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Meloni repeated that Italy is bound by a parliamentary resolution that ties recognition of a Palestinian state to strict conditions: the complete disarmament of Hamas and its permanent exclusion from any future role in governing Gaza. “Italy will remain faithful to that line,” she said.
Meloni’s measured tone stood in sharp contrast to the outrage expressed by several other European leaders. While French President Emmanuel Macron called the U.S. strategy “dangerous” and German officials rejected any “outside advice on our democracy,” Italy’s prime minister positioned herself as a potential bridge between Washington and Brussels.
Since taking office in 2022, Meloni has combined a strongly Atlanticist foreign policy — Italy has been one of Ukraine’s most consistent supporters in Europe — with domestic positions on migration and national sovereignty that overlap significantly with the “patriotic” movements praised in Trump’s document. Rome has increased defence spending to nearly 2 % of GDP, taken a leading role in NATO’s southern flank, and pushed for greater European industrial cooperation in armaments.
Analysts see Meloni’s response as a calculated attempt to turn Trump’s pressure into leverage for her long-standing goal of a more sovereign, militarily capable Europe that remains firmly anchored in the transatlantic alliance. By welcoming the call for self-reliance without endorsing the document’s harsher cultural critiques, she hopes to position Italy as the indispensable interlocutor in an increasingly strained U.S.-EU relationship.
For ordinary Europeans still reeling from the American strategy’s apocalyptic language, Meloni offered a calmer takeaway: the continent’s security future is now squarely in its own hands — and that, she argued, should be seen not as a threat, but as a historic chance to finally grow up.
