Italy has revealed plans to re-classify its long-awaited €13.5bn (£11bn) bridge across the Strait of Messina as defence spending in order to meet Nato targets.

Last week, Nato members agreed to spend 3.5% of GDP on core military capabilities by 2035 with an added 1.5% allocated to strategic resilience, including essential infrastructure.

Now, Italy’s prime minister Georgia Meloni has announced plans to include the price of the Strait of Messina bridge as a part of its defence spending to help with meeting this target. It is also hoped that it will be able to attract European Commission funding for the project by making it align with EU’s Military Mobility Action Plan.

The bridge has long been mooted. It would stretch across the Strait of Messina between mainland Italy and the island of Sicily and at around 3.6km it would be the longest suspension bridge in the world.

Matteo Salvini, Italy’s infrastructure minister, has designated about €13.5bn (£11bn) towards the project, which is set to begin construction this summer.

The Italian government is now plotting to re-brand this significant public infrastructure project as a “dual use” defence assets. Supporters argue that significantly improve military efficiency, including the shifting of military equipment and troops to Sicily.

However, others argue that the reclassification may not be accepted by Nato. Rome only contributed 1.49% of its GDP towards its military last year, making it one of Nato’s smallest military spenders, so reclassifying the bridge is seen as a ploy to artificially inflate this figure.

Additionally, for it to receive European Commission funding it must meet three requirements: it must be essential, lack viable alternatives and include compensatory environmental measures.

The Messina bridge between Sicily and the mainland has been a consideration since Roman times, but was brought to the table officially in 1998 when Italy’s government approved the plans “in principal”. A multi-billion Euro contract was awarded to a consortium led by Impreligo (now WeBuild) in 2006, but later cancelled when the country faced a recession. The project has been on-again, off-again several times since then, but was firmly put back on the table in 2023 when the Italian government officially ordered the restart of the planning procedure.



Webuild engineering director Michele Longo has previously said: “The Bridge over the Strait of Messina is a highly innovative project. It will be the longest suspension bridge in the world at 3,660 metres, with a span of 3,300 metres.

“The project will have a strong impact on the economy and employment in the region. It is expected to boost the national GDP by €2.9bn [£2.5bn] a year, equal to 0.17% of the national GDP. It would involve about 300 suppliers, especially small- and medium-sized businesses from the region. More than 100,000 people would potentially be employed during the life of the project, including in the local economy. Most of these people would come from the regions of Sicily and Calabria where there the rates of unemployment are high.”

Critics of the plan have pointed out that the Strait of Messina is one of Europe’s most seismically active locations, as it is right on a faultline. The current of the water between Sicily and the mainland is also notoriously strong, adding complications. Longo said that the bridge will have structural integrity to withstand a quake measuring 7.5 on the Richter scale, which is greater than the last earthquake on the faultline that occurred in 1908.

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