罗马——由于意大利政府与反对党均试图削减国防开支及对乌克兰的援助资金，意大利军方规划人员可能面临损失80亿欧元（约合90亿美元）资金的风险。
ROME — Italian military planners risk losing out on €8 billion ($9 billion) in funding as government and opposition parties seek to cut both defense spending and support for Ukraine.
本周，限制开支的计划浮出水面。目前，意大利总理乔治亚·梅洛尼正陷入两难境地：一方面要满足北约的军费开支要求，另一方面又面临选民的反对——民众不愿看到纳税人的钱被用于购买武器而非改善医疗条件。
The plans to limit spending emerged this week as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni continues to be squeezed between NATO spending targets and voter opposition to spending tax payers’ cash on arms not hospitals.
这80亿欧元的资金缺口与意大利对欧盟一项计划的态度反复密切相关。该计划允许各成员国在数年内将一定数额的国防开支从年度财政赤字的计算范围中剔除。
The possible €8 billion shortfall is tied up with Italy’s hot-and-cold approach to a European Union scheme to allow states to exempt a quantity of defense spending from their calculations of annual deficit spending over a number of years.
这项所谓的“国家豁免条款”能让欧盟成员国在扩充军备的同时不违反欧盟的财政赤字规定。
The so-called National Escape Clause would allow EU states to rearm while not breaking EU deficit rules.
起初，梅洛尼政府大力推动该计划；然而当欧盟最终批准后，政府的积极性却有所减退。今年，梅洛尼宣布将把这笔额外资金不仅用于国防，还要用来支付意大利不断上涨的燃油费用。
After Meloni’s government promoted the scheme, it then appeared less enthusiastic when the EU finally approved it before Meloni announced this year she would use the extra cash not only for defense but also to cover Italy’s soaring fuel costs.
原本预计借助该条款，意大利可获得210亿至220亿欧元的国防资金。但在周四的内阁会议上，副总理马泰奥·萨尔维尼成功将这一数额压低至约140亿欧元，减少了多达80亿欧元。
That was due to generate a defense windfall of between €21 billion and €22 billion thanks to NEC. But the calculation changed on Thursday at a Cabinet meeting when deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini succeeded in pushing the amount down to around €14 billion, a drop of up to €8 billion.
一位政府消息人士向《国防新闻》透露：“具体数额尚未最终确定，但削减方案已获共识。”
“It’s yet to be made definite but the reduction was agreed,” a government source told Defense News.
萨尔维尼领导的联盟党是梅洛尼执政联盟的成员，该党反对增加国防开支，反对向乌克兰提供军事援助，还希望与莫斯科达成协议以结束乌克兰冲突。
Salvini leads the League party which is part of Meloni’s governing coalition and is battling defense spending hikes, opposing sending military support to Ukraine and wants a deal with Moscow to end the conflict in the country.
这与梅洛尼坚定支持基辅、力挺欧洲对莫斯科采取强硬立场的立场形成鲜明对比，不过在意大利政坛中她属于少数派。在其右翼阵营中，新崛起的竞争者罗伯托·万纳奇呼吁解除对俄罗斯的制裁；而在意大利左翼反对党中，五星运动党则将乌克兰冲突归咎于“好战的欧洲”。本月对五星运动党成员进行的一项民调显示，超过90%的受访者反对欧洲重新扩充军备，并认为向乌克兰提供武器才是导致战争持续的原因。
That contrasts with Meloni’s firm backing for Kyiv and support for Europe’s hardline opposition to Moscow, but she is in a minority in Italian politics. To her right, a new challenger Roberto Vannacci is calling for an end to sanctions on Russia, while among Italy’s left-wing opposition parties, the Five Star party has blamed the Ukraine conflict on a “war mongering Europe.”A poll of Five Star’s members this month found over 90% opposed European rearmament and believed sending arms to Ukraine was to blame for prolonging the war.
尽管意大利国内反对国防开支的呼声高涨，梅洛尼仍承诺实现北约提出的国防开支占GDP 5%的目标。她声称今年意大利的国防开支比例已达2.8%，这一数值还包含了国内安全方面的支出。不过具体细节仍不明确：今年的预算明细至今尚未公布。
Despite a groundswell of opposition to defense spending in Italy, Meloni has meanwhile committed to NATO’s spending target of 5% of GDP, and she has claimed Italy has reached 2.8% this year, including spending on domestic security. But details are scant: this year’s budget breakdown has yet to be published.
与此同时，罗马方面于8月份宣布，计划向欧盟的SAFE国防融资计划申请80亿欧元的低息贷款，这一数额较最初计划的149亿欧元有所减少。
Meanwhile, Rome said in August it would request €8 billion euros in cheap loans from the European Union’s SAFE defense funding program, down from its original intention to ask for €14.9 billion euros in loans.
在9月23日举行的议会听证会上，意大利国防巨头莱昂纳多公司的首席执行官表示，他非常看好SAFE贷款计划，因为该计划能以较少的繁琐手续为各项国防项目提供资金保障。
In a parliamentary hearing on Sept. 23, the CEO of Italian defense giant Leonardo said he was a big fan of SAFE loans, since they guaranteed cash for defense programs with few complications.
洛伦佐·马里亚尼说道：“我认为SAFE是欧洲出台的首个真正实用的举措。”
“I believe SAFE is the first, real useful measure that Europe has come up with,” said Lorenzo Mariani.
他补充道：“以往可获得的资金数额有限且申请流程复杂。如今SAFE正在大量拨付资金，其运作机制我们认为也不像其他欧洲相关计划那样复杂。”
“The money has never been much and it’s been complicated. Now SAFE is moving a lot of money and using a system which we believe is not complex like other European schemes have been,” he added.
“多亏了SAFE资金，葡萄牙才得以采购由莱昂纳多公司和芬坎蒂里公司制造的FREMM护卫舰，”他说道。
“Portugal is buying FREMM frigates built by Leonardo and Fincantieri thanks to SAFE funds,” he said.
马里亚尼称自己已向梅洛尼政府大力推介SAFE贷款计划的诸多优势。
Mariani said he had talked up the virtues of SAFE loans to the Meloni government.
“SAFE计划具有积极意义。能否实施该计划并不由我决定。我已提出了相关建议，希望能够得到政府的采纳，”他说道。
“SAFE is very positive. The use of it does not depend on me. I have made proposals which I hope are accepted by the government,” he said.
一位分析人士指出，罗马方面需要尽快就国防开支问题做出明确决策。
One analyst said Rome needed to make up its mind about spending.
“经过意大利多届政府多年反复请求后，欧盟终于向各成员国提供了NEC与SAFE贷款。如今政府必须就此作出重要决策，”罗马智库IAI的国防、安全与太空项目负责人亚历山德罗·马罗内说道。
“The government needs to take important decisions about NEC and SAFE loans which were granted to all member states after years of requests by Italian governments,” said Alessandro Marrone, who heads the Defence Security and Space Programme at Rome think tank IAI.
“政府本应尽快落实相关决定，以便意大利国防部能更好地制定规划。此事刻不容缓。这不仅关系到北约设定的目标，还涉及如何应对明年美国撤军后欧洲出现的防御空白，以及实现意大利派遣海军舰艇保卫红海的意愿。”
“The government should have implemented its decision by now to enable better planning by the Italian defense ministry. It’s urgent. This is not just about NATO targets but about filling gaps left in Europe next year by U.S. pull-outs and now following through on Italy’s desire to send naval vessels to defend the Red Sea.”