Italy refused a flight of American bombers on their way to the Middle East clearance to land at the strategic “hub of the Med” air base, reportedly because Washington had not strictly honoured the terms of its governing treaty on launching strikes from Italian soil, it is claimed.
A flight of “several” American bombers were refused permission to land at Sigonella air force base on Sicily, southern Italy, in the central Mediterranean at an unspecified time in recent days, a report in Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera states. Per the report, the aircraft were already in-flight and on their way to the strategic air base when the permission was denied.
Sigonella was built by the United States in the 1950s on land temporarily leased to America by the Italian government. Today, it is an Italian Air Force base on which the U.S. under the guise of Naval Air Station Sigonella is a tenant of the Italian government. The use of the base is governed by a treaty between Rome and Washington: routine armed forces flights and work are permitted including operational and logistical, but warfighting activity requires the express permission of the Italian government.
The airbase is of some consequence, logistically speaking. The office of Commander, Navy Region Europe calls it “the premier logistics base in the Mediterranean as it continues to be a vital component in supporting U.S. and NATO operations”, and notes the base “hosts U.S. and NATO aircraft of all kinds”. The services nickname of Sigonella is “hub of the Med”.
Per the Corriere della Sera report, it is the alleged failure of the United States Air Force to get this permission that led to the bombers being turned away. It is stated the U.S. bombers filed their flight plan while already in the air, stating they intended to land at Sigonella before taking off again and heading to the Middle East, which Italian authorities interpreted as not being a routine operational or logistical exercise.
The Italian government has said it is willing to receive any requests to use airfields on Italian soil from the U.S., but rather than making a snap decision on them at the executive level, the decision on whether to permit America to launch strikes would be put to a vote in their Parliament.
The office of the Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni — seen as one of President Donald Trump’s most friendly allies in Europe — said in a statement that the country is acting “in compliance with existing international agreements” and with its previously stated position regarding U.S. strikes from Italian soil that “Each request is carefully examined on a case-by-case basis.”
Italy is a “reliable” country that protects its own national interests while remaining a strong ally of the United States, they said, remarking: “here are no critical issues or frictions with international partners. Relations with the United States, in particular, are solid and characterized by full and loyal cooperation.”
While the refusal for bombers to land at Sigonella may be over Italy wishing to see its treaties with the United States respected and not abated by precedent, the situation appears to be considerably friendlier than that with Italy’s Mediterranean neighbour socialist Spain, which has closed its airspace to U.S. military aircraft altogether.
Spain’s socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez closed off airspace to Operation Epic Fury on Monday, as reported, decrying “this illegal war” as he did so.
