Almost one hundred thousand people took to the streets of Rome on April 5, demanding an end to Europe’s rearmament agenda. During the central rally, demonstrators and speakers condemned the ReArm Europe initiative recently launched by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, as well as the military spending plans announced by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government.
In the lead-up to the protest, the Five Star Movement (Movimento 5 Stelle, M5S), which has recently aligned with the left bloc in the European Parliament, criticized the government’s military priorities. They calculated that the funds earmarked for planned defense acquisitions could instead be used to alleviate ongoing crises in healthcare and education. According to their analysis, the cost of 49 F-35 and Typhoon fighter jets could finance the construction of over 50 state-of-the-art polyclinics and hospitals. Additionally, for the price of just one of the 270 tanks planned for purchase, regional authorities could build four new schools accommodating around 1,400 students.
“We say no to a government that wants to drag Italy into the vortex of a mad arms race, diverting funds from health, education, and welfare,” the party wrote. Their message was echoed by a host of organizations that joined Saturday’s demonstration and several speakers, including Marc Botenga of the Workers’ Party of Belgium. Botenga described the protest as a potentially pivotal moment in building a European movement against militarization. “This is a very important demonstration,” Botenga told Il Manifesto, “because the public discourse is currently hegemonized by war. If we want peace on our continent, it is necessary to mobilize, here in Italy and elsewhere.”
In addition to calls for public investment in health, education, and social services, rank-and-file cadre organized under the Unione Sindacale di Base (USB) held a dedicated rally highlighting the erosion of labor rights and demanding an immediate reversal of the government’s armament agenda. The union warned that wages in Italy have dropped nearly 9% over the past 15 years, with dire consequences for working people. “Renew our contracts, raise our wages and pensions, end unnecessary military spending,” the union urged. “Rearmament serves no one except to guarantee corporate profits.”
