Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani stated that the government has "reserved 14.9 billion" of Safe resources for arms purchases, and that the government will decide by the end of the year how much to use, implying — in line with the words of Defence Minister Guido Crosetto — that no decision has yet been made on how much of the available funds to utilise.
The two ministers took part in a parliamentary hearing before the joint Foreign Affairs and Defence committees of the Chamber and Senate, in the debate following the briefing on the outcomes of the NATO summit in Ankara.
The Safe programme "as it has been structured is a tool for financing military expenditure, not an addition to what is already budgeted. So in Italy, Safe is an alternative to Treasury bills. It is an entirely technical choice that the minister will make by the end of the year: regarding the 14.9 billion mentioned earlier by Minister Tajani, we will assess in a technical manner how much to use as an alternative to BOTs and CCTs, from the standpoint of financial convenience." So said Crosetto.
