Italy’s prime minister backs boosting military spending, saying 'freedom has a price'

Italy’s prime minister on Tuesday defended her government's plans to increase military spending, saying "freedom has a price."

Speaking at the Senate ahead of this week's European Union summit, Giorgia Meloni said it was necessary to defend "freedom," standing by her government's plans to increase military spending, Italy's ANSA news agency reported.

"We have never made any secret of wanting to increase allocations for military spending as previous governments did, perhaps secretly, without owning up to it," she said.

“Freedom has a price: if you are unable to defend yourself, others will do it, but they will do so by imposing a price,” she added.