The green light for the construction of a colossal project, with historical dimensions, but with a not -so -clear benefit, gave its government through a government technical committee. It is the many billion projects of construction as it will unite it with the mainland and intersect the Strait of Messina.
NATO obligation the Messina bridge
The Melonian government has managed to present the construction of the 13 billion -euro bridge as a vital project for national security and according to the planning design will be included in the expenditure to reach Italy its 5% target for NATO set by Donald Trump.
Although the original planning in the 1970s had been made for the economic development of one of Italy’s poorest areas, the 3.3km -long bridge has been for decades, the … Arta bridge, after all its construction efforts failed.
The Melon government, on the initiative of far -right Matteo Salvini, hopes to succeed where others failed and the presentation of the project as strategic importance was obviously not accidental. The report released in April said: “The Messina Strait Bridge is a fundamental infrastructure in terms of military mobility, taking into account the presence of significant NATO bases in southern Italy and is thus a project of high public interest.”
According to the report, “the road and rail bridge will play a decisive role in defense and security, facilitating the movement of Italy’s armed forces and NATO allies, given the Mediterranean’s promotion in a geopolitical sensitive area.”
At about the same time, Melona publicly argued that the project was necessary by saying: “We see Russia increasingly promoting its power in the Mediterranean. There are many hybrid threats, many hostile factors active on the south side of the alliance. “
Doubts about the reasoning of the Melon Government
The above probably convinced Italy’s allies, but experts have a different opinion on whether the value of the bridge in the Strait of Messina is strategic and military.
Given that the main problem of European defense at the moment is the situation in Ukraine and with the Mediterranean no longer such a hot field of competition with Russia, there are few Italian analysts who emphasize that projects that are part of NATO’s planning should have the approach to helping the east.
The bridge a… pure Italian obsession
The plan to build a bridge in the Strait of Messina, according to experts, may not have the character given by Italian political leadership to cover 1.5% of GDP that NATO member states will spend on infrastructure, but it is an idea dating back to antiquity. There are reports from Roman chronographers to “interventions” in the strait that allowed cargo transport without the use of ships. Sicily’s “Union” with the mainland also worked on important personalities of the Risorto (Italian integration) period and was a request that was quite discussed at that time.
From 1970 until today, every time the project came to the fore, there were reactions from the locals, as the interventions made in the area are significant for its construction.
In 2005, then Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi signed the first contract of 3.9 billion euros, but the launch of work was postponed after his government fall a few months later. When he returned to power, he tried to revive the project, but this was canceled again in 2011 because of the European debt crisis.
