Italy is already embroiled in a hybrid war

This morning, a drone entered Latvian airspace in the Rugaji area, near the country’s eastern border. NATO responded by dispatching two Italian Eurofighters, which took off from the Siauliai base in Lithuania, and two Turkish F-16s, which took off from the Amari base in Estonia, to intercept it. Once the aircraft had been identified, it was shot down by an Italian fighter jet. The Latvian National Guard is searching for the wreckage in a wooded and marshy area to determine more precisely what type of drone it was and, above all, where it came from. This incident is yet another to emerge from NATO’s eastern flank, as Russian pressure is not confined solely to the Ukrainian battlefield.

Moscow’s hybrid warfare encompasses sabotage, cyberattacks, disinformation, interference and covert operations against European infrastructure and strategic targets. This is why Thursday’s explosion in Colleferro, on the outskirts of Rome, at a plant belonging to KNDS Ammo Italy – a company that manufactures ammunition, including 155-millimetre rounds destined for Ukraine – takes on particular significance. The fire, which broke out in the area used for processing and compressing gunpowder, did not result in any casualties. The judicial authorities are investigating the causes and, at present, there is no evidence to link the incident to Russia’s hybrid war – although many have put forward the theory that it was an act of sabotage. The most alarming aspect, however, concerns the media coverage: in Italy, there are already those accusing "the arms industry", arguing that "the employment prospects of a region and the country cannot be entrusted to rearmament and the war economy". Security comes first, but it is precisely Putin’s war, together with the hybrid pressure that Moscow has been exerting on European countries for years now, that has made it clear that without a credible defence capability, there can be no guarantee of security. We can debate how to produce weapons, where to produce them and what safeguards to put in place for local communities. But the problem that compels us to do so is not one we have created ourselves.