From the Chamber, bipartisan go-ahead for the refinancing of Italian missions abroad. The decree law was definitively approved today after the yes of the Senate. There were 493 votes in favour, 22 against and 15 abstentions. The common front that united the two branches of the Chamber was broad and transversal, perhaps also on the emotional wave of the latest bloody events that saw the fall of Italian soldiers in Afghanistan.
Pdl, Lega, Popolo e Territorio, Udc and Pd had no doubts in promoting the new measures, even if all the oppositions' amendments were rejected. The only ones who voted against were the IDV MPs. As for the abstainers, they are the Radicals.
The text approved today provides for some cuts for the second half of the funding allocated for the first half of the year. To date, 9.200 Italian military personnel are deployed on international fronts, who will be reduced by two thousand by the end of November. In this way, state expenditure will be reduced from 811 to 664 million euros, for a total saving of 120 million.
The contingent that will suffer the greatest reduction will be the one active in Libya, where 1.970 Italian soldiers are currently operating. Soon, their number will be reduced by 884 units. Different speech for Afghanistan. In this case "no reduction has been envisaged - explained the Minister of Defense, Ignazio La Russa -, because it is the firm intention of our Government to maintain compliance with an international commitment that sees our boys working for peace".
