Italy refuses US aircraft use of Sicily base for Middle East operations, source says

Yesterday Spain. Italy today. Who's next

>*By contrast, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has close ties with U.S. President ​Donald Trump and has so far refrained from taking a hard line against the ​Iran war, though ⁠she has vowed to seek parliamentary approval should Washington request the use of Italian bases.* It's the opposition parties toward the left that she's most concerned about.

I'm honestly relieved that the West isn't just blindly following us into a Middle East clusterfuck again

The US has already made it clear they won’t help protect others, so why should others help protect them?

The accords says that the US has to ask in advance, and we can give permission. They didn't ask and tried to make it fait accompli. Right now Meloni can't risk it, and she promised to pass any request to the parliament. So the defense minister said, no, rightfully so.

Good. We need more countries like Spain and Italy. 

Surprised it's Italy TBH, but impressed. I think they're one of the most desperate to get the straight reopened after the Asian countries and have a pro-Trump leader. Says a lot about how bad bridges are being burned. 

France already denied Israel its airspace. Finally the NATO standing up for itself. Thanks Trump

I'm surprised the European states have such massive balls.

If you treat your allies bad that's the result. Simple, only the Orange Babyman doesn't understand...

The UK should follow. Kick them out of the bases they occupy in the UK.

Likewise, Spain closed off its airspace to U.S. planes involved in Trump's Iran War. Yes, it's amazing. A country can ask another country for something, and the other country can say "No". They're not powerless or required to say "Yes". They're not a helpless victim if the other country says they want something. Spoiler alert: this is Trump's Iran War of choice, no matter who asked him to attack Iran.

Donnie 5 minutes later : Italy sucks.

Why would anyone want to get involved in this disastrous shit show? The Iran war was an insanely bad idea since the beginning and the consequences of it are already devastating on both a humanitarian and global scale. The Trump administration has a history of destroying everything around them through pure selfishness, narcissism, and idiocy and leaving the consequences of everything else. He should have been in jail for life for the litany of felonies he committed by trying to overthrow the 2020 election, but instead we have the historic disaster that is his second term so far.

Sorry, Americans, we don't have any war ships, missiles and planes to spare on Iran. We must keep them, in case you decide to attack us.

Amazing how one President can absolutely burn through a near century of tightly formed international relations.

>The report did ​not specify when the aircraft were due to land but said permission was denied because the U.S. ​had not requested clearance and Italy's military leadership had not been consulted, as required ⁠under treaties governing the use of U.S. military installations in the country. In other words, there's a right way and a wrong way to use another nation's airbases. But the Trump regime, being stupid bullies, didn't bother doing it the right way. Now they've been rejected by even a fascist government.

Trump has spent years telling Europe to handle their own shit. To be expected Europe would have the same response.

Wild to see an actual “no” to the U.S. for once. Between this and some EU export pauses, it feels like allies are finally discovering boundaries. Someone please mail Congress a map.

The quote Mr. Borat, "Very Nice!"

I'm happy to see Rome declining because existing agreements between the 2 countries were not adhered to. Very simple to understand,

Good that they are boycotting the World Cup too.

This isn't a blanket anti war statement by Italy. Rather, the US tried to land planes that violated the terms of the treaty governing the base. The US planes were already in the air when they requested to use the base. Because of the treaty, they required a parliamentary waiver before the planes could land. There was not enough time to get that approval, since the planes were already flying, so Italy had to say no. Landing the planes without the parliamentary waiver would have violated the treaty. It might have turned out differently if the US had made the request in advance. Edit: From earlier coverage by the Guardian: "A source at the Italian defence ministry confirmed a report in Corriere della Sera that “some US bombers” had been due to land at Sigonella – a key US navy installation and Nato base – before heading to the Middle East. According to treaties signed in the late 1950s, the US navy can use the base for logistical and training purposes but not as a transit hub for aircraft used to transport weapons for war unless in an emergency situation, permission for which needs to be approved in parliament. The source said the US had only sought permission to land the aircraft while they were en route to Sicily, therefore failing to follow procedures that require authorisation to be approved in parliament. It is unclear when the aircraft had been due to land at the base but the source said there was no time to seek approval in parliament."

Good! Finally some countries are treating the US like the toddler it is. Don't give them anything they want and you'll see the as they really are... A bully without a friend in the world.

Time to move to Italy

Meanwhile, Germany still allows the use of Rammstein AFB even though supporting wars of aggression is a serious crime according to German penal law. Legal scholars are already discussing the liability of the German government.

Nice, thank you Italy. F*** this Admin.

It's almost as if pissing on our allies regularly has lead to negative repercussions...

As an American, thank you Italy.

Glad to see some countries are coming to their senses.

Certainly can't blame them.

Good. Turn your back on this operation.  And go after big tech next with taxation 

L'Italie refuse de servir de base pour la guerre de Trump en Iran. Bravo l'Italie de ne pas servir le fachiste Trump, ce salopard bon à rien avec sa guerre totalement stupide en Iran.

Why not just remove the base all together 

What Iran accumulated as missiles and drones are to keep EU and Middle East safe, it is wise EU to not get involved to deplete them and help them become stronger 👌

Best news about Italy all day ⚽️

I think that the EU will broadly move towards independence , next by cozying up to China (they just care about having customers) then leveraging that for a non-US attached EU.

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And yet people say the US isn’t doing enough to support NATO

Looks like Europe has agreement with Iran to allow their tankers to get through if they push out US air bases from Europe

I don't get it, it's a weird move. Weird hill to die on. Trump will repay Italy and Spain for this

Italy can get its own oil the

They'll just use Aviano 😂

NATO is such an outdated idea.