The Ukraine issue could divide Italian politicians ahead of the elections — Politico
The issue of military aid to Ukraine is becoming an increasingly contentious topic in Italian politics ahead of next year’s parliamentary elections. According to Politico, debates over continued support for Kyiv could intensify divisions among political forces and within the center-left camp.
The leader of the opposition “Five Star” movement and former Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has questioned the wisdom of continuing to supply weapons to Kyiv. He said that while such support was justified at the start of the full-scale war due to the imbalance of power, now that Ukraine possesses powerful weaponry, his party insists on shifting to diplomacy and will refrain from voting for new military aid packages.
Conte believes that the ultimate direction of foreign policy should be determined by the voters themselves during the left-wing coalition’s primaries. At the same time, the politician advocates for negotiations with both Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian dictator Putin, and is categorically opposed to raising Italy’s defense spending to NATO standards.
Conte’s initiative has brought to the surface sharp disagreements with the Democratic Party, the main potential coalition partner. Democratic Party leader Ellie Schlein rejected the idea of putting the issue of aid to Ukraine on the primary ballot, stressing that the alliance’s jointly agreed-upon platform must be finalized before the leadership election. For his part, former Defense Minister Lorenzo Gerini strongly emphasized that support for Ukraine is a matter of principle for the party, and that any attempts to split the coalition are on Conte’s conscience.
Representatives of the current center-right government also reacted sharply to these statements. Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani accused Conte of effectively supporting the aggressor and called on left-wing forces to clearly define their position: are they on the side of democracy or Putin’s dictatorship?
At the same time, the Ukrainian issue is creating tension among the right as well. Although current Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has consistently supported Kyiv, her coalition partners from the “League” party are expressing concerns about defense spending and aid to Ukraine. Even potential alliances with other far-right forces could complicate this stance, as they, too, oppose military aid.
Politico notes that such vacillations among politicians reflect the general mood in Italian society. The country has deep pacifist traditions, and public support for Ukraine remains among the lowest in Western Europe—according to YouGov, only one-third of Italians are concerned about the outcome of the war. Consequently, in terms of military aid allocated relative to GDP, Italy currently ranks near the bottom in Europe.
It is known that, by law, the next regular parliamentary elections in Italy are scheduled to take place at the end of 2027.
This was reported by Politico.
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