Is Italy becoming a NATO 'colony'?
In the summer of 2022, Italy, along with the other NATO member states, approved a military assistance package for Kiev. However, many Italians opposed the decision. Their sentiments was expressed by the Italian journalist Giorgio Bianchi who said that “Getting involved in the war, Europe is losing its true self, becoming NATO’s dumb little brother.”
People in Italy doubt that NATO’s policies benefit the country. For many, it remains unclear why the Italian government supplies Ukraine with weapons and “there are more American soldiers in Italy now than during the war against the Nazis”, according to Patrick Boylan, an American, who has lived in Italy for over 40 years.
Jorit, a famous artist, represents the voice of the community through his street arts. In Naples, he painted the portrait of Dostoyevsky with a crying baby depicted inside his eye to remind people that the Donbass war started eight years ago. His art tries to give a voice to alternative opinion since it’s banned in the media. “Public opinion in the West is now very clear. Almost everyone adheres to the idea that Russia is absolute evil, and that the West is absolute good. I'm trying to break this one-sided narrative.”
Will the voice of Italians be heard by the Italian government?