Italy’s government has moved to reduce a planned defense-spending increase by as much as €8 billion, as opposition to military aid for Ukraine and higher defense budgets grows across the country’s political parties. The change could leave Italian military planners with about €14 billion in additional funding rather than the €21 billion to €22 billion previously expected under a European Union budget measure, Defense News reported.

The reduction emerged at a Cabinet meeting after Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini pushed to lower the amount allocated through the EU’s National Escape Clause, or NEC. A government source told Defense News that the reduction had been agreed but was not yet final, leaving the precise figure unsettled.

The NEC allows EU countries to exclude some defense spending from annual deficit calculations over several years. The mechanism is intended to give governments more room to increase military outlays without breaking European Union deficit rules.

Italy’s government initially promoted the measure, but Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni later indicated that the additional fiscal room would also help cover rising fuel costs rather than go entirely to defense. That decision changed the size of the defense windfall that had been expected from the clause.

The funding dispute places Meloni between Italy’s commitments to NATO and growing voter resistance to spending public money on weapons instead of hospitals. Meloni has backed Ukraine and Europe’s opposition to Russia, while Salvini, who leads the League party in the governing coalition, opposes increased defense spending and military support for Kyiv and favors an agreement with Moscow to end the war.

Salvini’s position reflects a broader dispute inside Italy’s governing coalition over the country’s role in European defense and its support for Ukraine. The League has opposed sending additional military support to Kyiv, while Meloni has continued to support Ukraine and Europe’s opposition to Moscow.

Pressure also comes from outside the coalition. Roberto Vannacci, a right-wing challenger, has called for an end to sanctions on Russia. The opposition Five Star party has blamed the conflict on what it calls a war-mongering Europe. More than 90% of Five Star members surveyed this month opposed European rearmament and said arms deliveries to Ukraine were prolonging the war, the report said.

The political resistance comes as Meloni has committed Italy to NATO’s target of spending 5% of gross domestic product on defense. She has claimed that Italy has reached 2.8% this year, including spending on domestic security, although the detailed breakdown of this year’s budget has not yet been published.

The figures have not resolved how Italy will balance its NATO commitment with competing domestic priorities and resistance to military spending. The government’s decision to direct some of the fiscal room created by the NEC toward fuel costs has also altered the amount expected to be available for defense.

Italy has separately scaled back its intended use of the EU’s SAFE defense-financing program. Rome said in August that it would seek €8 billion in low-cost SAFE loans, down from an earlier plan to request €14.9 billion. The program provides loans for defense-related spending by European Union countries.

The two funding decisions are part of a wider debate over how Italy will finance its defense plans. The NEC could provide additional room in the national budget, while SAFE loans would offer another source of financing for defense programs. Both decisions remain part of the government’s broader effort to determine its spending priorities.

Alessandro Marrone, who heads the Defence Security and Space Programme at Rome-based IAI, said the government needed to settle its decisions on both the NEC and SAFE loans so Italy’s Defense Ministry could plan. He also linked the urgency to expected gaps in Europe next year after U.S. pullbacks and to Italy’s stated interest in sending naval vessels to defend the Red Sea.

For Meloni, the dispute combines pressure from NATO, coalition disagreements and public opposition to higher military spending. The government’s reduced NEC allocation and lower SAFE-loan request leave Italy’s defense plans subject to decisions that have not yet been fully finalized.