Italy last Friday denied the United States the use of the Sigonella base for landing bombers .
The Corriere della Sera reported this, and the news was confirmed by informed sources. Chief of Staff Luciano Portolano called Defense Minister Guido Crosetto to inform him that the flight plans for some US aircraft called for landing in Sigonella and then departing for the Middle East, but no one had requested authorization or consulted the Italian military leadership , and the plans were communicated only after the planes were already in flight.
Once it was established that these were not normal or logistical flights, included in the US-Italy treaty, Portolano, on direct mandate from the minister, informed the US: those planes cannot land in Sigonella , because they are unauthorized and without any prior consultation.
Moreover, Crosetto himself, in Parliament, had pledged to have Parliament approve "any operation that does not fall within the treaties and therefore needs to be authorized."
A denial that could create a diplomatic incident similar to the one that occurred in 1985 when Bettino Craxi was in government and Ronald Reagan was in the White House. However, according to reports, there have been no reactions or protests from Washington.
Minister Crosetto himself clarified the situation: "The bases are active and in use, nothing has changed, even if some are trying to convey the message that Italy has decided to suspend the use of the bases by US assets . We are doing what all Italian governments have always done, fully adhering to the commitments made in Parliament and to the line reiterated by the Supreme Defense Council, in continuity with all previous Councils over the decades. International agreements clearly regulate and distinguish between what requires specific government authorization (for which it was decided to always involve Parliament), without which no concessions can be made, and what is considered technically authorized because it is included in the agreements. There is no third option." "I want to reiterate," Crosetto added, "that there is no animosity or tension with the US, because they know the rules that have governed their presence in Italy since 1954 as well as we do."
