The plan is to build the world's longest suspension bridge over the Strait of Messina. The construction is estimated to cost around 13 billion euro and has now been highlighted as central to national security and a way to increase the country's NATO investments. Parts of Italy's promised NATO budget are earmarked for investments in infrastructure.
When the bridge plans were first presented in 1969, it was to strengthen economic growth in southern Italy. This time, the bridge is planned to be completed in 2032.
However, there is criticism that the project can actually be linked to the military investments. Alessandro Marrone, who leads the defense program at the Rome Institute for International Relations, tells the Financial Times that the government should instead invest in upgrading ports and roads where troops are actually stationed.
Russia knows that Italian troops and reinforcements for the Baltic states or Poland will not pass this bridge.
