NATO\u2019s top military officer says the Alliance must keep its eyes on the Mediterranean even as Russia\u2019s war against Ukraine keeps the eastern flank at the center of its deterrence effort<\/p>\n
Adm. Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, chair of NATO\u2019s Military Committee, used a four-day visit to Taranto to make the case for a 360-degree approach to security \u2014 one in which Italy\u2019s southern military hub becomes increasingly relevant to the Alliance\u2019s \u201cSouthern Flank.\u201d<\/p>\n
In an interview with La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno, published Sunday, the former chief of Italy\u2019s defense staff described Taranto as \u201ca natural bridge between the Mediterranean and Europe\u201d and a strategic platform for Italy and NATO.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Why it matters: NATO is simultaneously confronting the Russian threat in the East and a much broader set of security challenges across its southern neighborhood.<\/p>\n
Cavo Dragone links the Mediterranean not only to conventional military threats, but to terrorism, irregular migration exploited as a hybrid weapon, energy security and critical infrastructure.
\nTaranto gives that strategy a concrete Italian dimension. The city hosts NATO infrastructure and is preparing for the activation of the Multinational Maritime Command for the South of the Alliance, under Italian leadership.
\nHis message is also about burden sharing: after NATO allies agreed in Ankara to move toward spending 5% of GDP on defense and security, Cavo Dragone argues that higher spending must translate into capabilities, innovation and readiness \u2014 not simply larger budgets.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Zoom in: Why Taranto. Cavo Dragone\u2019s choice of Taranto was deliberate. \u201cTaranto is not a courtesy stop: it is a strategic piece of the Alliance,\u201d he told the newspaper.<\/p>\n
He pointed to the Mar Grande naval base, the city\u2019s NATO infrastructure, the Southern Operational Center of the NATO Support and Procurement Agency, and the future Multinational Maritime Command.
\nTogether, he said, they make Taranto \u201ca privileged observatory on the Southern Flank.\u201d
\nThe city is also home to Italy\u2019s Navy and provides permanent NATO naval forces with operational and logistical support. Cavo Dragone said he wanted to visit the sailors personally \u201calso as a way of saying thank you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The big picture: NATO\u2019s two fronts. The interview comes with an important tension running through it: how does NATO maintain deterrence against Russia without allowing its focus on the eastern flank to obscure threats emerging from the South?<\/p>\n
Cavo Dragone rejects the idea that the two priorities compete. \u201cI see the Mediterranean as having a dedicated route,\u201d he said. \u201cThe threats do not stop at borders.\u201d
\nHe listed terrorism, irregular migration used as a hybrid weapon, energy security and protection of critical infrastructure among challenges that directly affect NATO allies.
\nHis answer is NATO\u2019s established 360-degree security approach.
\nTaranto fits that framework because, in his words, \u201cthe Mediterranean is not a periphery. It is a center, whose nature can change very quickly.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Russia: \u201cWe will defend every centimeter\u201d. On Russia, Cavo Dragone delivered an unambiguous deterrence message.<\/p>\n
Asked whether Moscow could really attack a NATO country, he said his job was to make sure \u201can attack on allied territory never makes sense,\u201d pointing to NATO\u2019s work on the eastern flank, from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea.
\nThat includes an integrated presence through NATO\u2019s Enhanced Forward Presence, air surveillance and defense, rapid-reaction capabilities and exercises.
\n\u201cThe message, for those listening, is clear: we will defend every centimeter of allied territory,\u201d Cavo Dragone said.<\/p>\n
Yes but\u2026 He added an equally important qualifier: \u201cThose who want to put us to the test should know that we are ready.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Between the lines: Cavo Dragone\u2019s framing is significant because it does not present the Mediterranean as an alternative to NATO\u2019s eastern priorities.<\/p>\n
Instead, the South becomes part of the same deterrence architecture.
\nSouthern security is connected to partnerships with countries including Jordan, Morocco, and Tunisia, while the future NATO command in Taranto is presented as a way to maintain high-level attention on the South within the Alliance\u2019s agenda.<\/p>\n
Follow the money. The other major message from Cavo Dragone concerns NATO\u2019s new spending commitments.<\/p>\n
Asked about the Alliance\u2019s decision in Ankara to progressively raise spending to 5% of GDP, he described the commitment as both \u201cambitious\u201d and \u201ccredible.\u201d
\nAccording to the figures he cited, NATO members are expected to invest \u20ac1.5 trillion in defense this year, with infrastructure modernization requiring a further \u20ac27 billion and programs for stockpiling and distributing fuel another \u20ac11 billion.<\/p>\n
But the admiral\u2019s emphasis was on what comes after the money. Spending more, he said, also means investing more heavily in personnel, innovation and adaptation.<\/p>\n
Modern military capabilities increasingly combine the physical and digital domains and require the right tools to prevail \u201cin an increasingly multidomain and systemic manner.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
What we\u2019re watching: The concrete test will be whether the political decisions taken at NATO level turn into operational capabilities quickly enough.<\/p>\n
Cavo Dragone singled out speed of implementation as the key issue: converting political decisions into real capabilities.
\nAnd Taranto, in his telling, is where part of that strategy will become visible: \u201cThe sea, in Taranto, knows this well,\u201d he said, \u201cbefore those who make it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NATO\u2019s top military officer says the Alliance must keep its eyes on the Mediterranean even as Russia\u2019s war…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":46060,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[5],"class_list":["post-46059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-italy","tag-italy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46059"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46059\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}