Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni argued that Europe should strengthen its own defense capacity, while stressing that this step should not amount to a break with NATO and the transatlantic security framework.
In Meloni’s view, Europe faces political and strategic costs from leaving its security in the hands of another actor for an extended period. For this reason, Meloni said European countries should assume greater responsibility in the security sphere and that the continent should be capable of defending itself, but added that acting entirely outside NATO and the transatlantic framework would not be realistic.
Meloni’s remarks in December 2025 underscored the need to strike a balance between increasing Europe’s defense capacity and maintaining its security ties with the United States and NATO. Europe’s dependence on the United States in defense, defense spending within NATO, the war in Ukraine and Washington’s demands for greater financial and military contributions from European countries are the main issues in this debate.
Throughout 2025, Meloni maintained that relations between Europe and the United States and the Western alliance should be preserved, while also advocating greater European responsibility for security. During the debate over European defense in March 2025, she likewise maintained that Europe should develop its own defense capacity.
Meloni, who emerged as one of the European leaders to establish close political ties with the Trump administration, was also assessed in terms of relations with Washington. A joint statement calling for the strategic alliance between the United States and Italy to be strengthened in security, economic and technological fields indicates that Meloni’s official position is based not on a break, but on maintaining the alliance while Europe assumes greater responsibility.
There is no verified official speech transcript or video recording showing that the statements attributed to Meloni—“We are nobody’s servants” and “It is better than being a puppet of the United States”—were made directly by her. The assessment should therefore be limited to verifiable security and defense messages, and these harsh statements should not be used as definitive quotations.
