Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has proposed extending the protection of Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty to Ukraine as a security guarantee without granting the country full NATO membership.
She made this statement on the sidelines of a special European Council meeting in Brussels, Ukrinform reports, citing Agenzia Nova.
“The proposal to send unidentified European troops to Ukraine is the most complex and perhaps the least effective solution. I have also excluded the possibility that Italian soldiers could be sent in this context and I think we need to think about more lasting solutions than those that sending troops could represent,” Meloni stated.
In her view, applying Article 5 of NATO would be “much more effective.”
It would be “something different from joining NATO but which would mean extending the same coverage of NATO countries to Ukraine… It would be a guarantee of stable, lasting and effective security. It is therefore one of the proposals that we are putting on the table,” she added.
Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty is the collective defense clause, obligating all NATO members to defend an ally under attack.
As reported by Ukrinform, on March 6, Special European Council met in Brussels, where EU heads of state and government discussed strengthening European defense and increasing support for Ukraine. This came in response to U.S. policy shifts regarding its role in European security and military aid to Ukraine.
A resolution to increase assistance for Ukraine aimed at strengthening its position in negotiations for a just and lasting peace was approved by 26 out of 27 EU member states.
2025-03-07 08:37:00 ,
