Italy on Wednesday criticized comments by NATO chief Mark Rutte on the politically sensitive issue of US forces using bases in Italy during the Iran war. Responding to President Donald Trump's criticism of NATO allies for not supporting the US, Rutte told Fox News that Europe was in fact a "platform of power projection for the United States". "Five hundred US planes took off from US bases in Italy to support (Operation) Epic Fury. So this is massive," Rutte told the network ahead of an expected meeting with Trump. He said there were between 4,000 to 5,000 sorties by US planes from European bases during the conflict. Italy's defense ministry in a statement said Rutte's words gave "a completely misleading message by confusing the type of flights that were authorized". It said Italy had allowed only "technical and logistical, non-kinetic" US flights during Epic Fury under existing agreements with the United States. "On the occasions when a request was put forward that fell outside this scope, as is well known, Italy did not grant authorization," the statement said. Authorization for any use of the bases for combat missions has to come from the government which in turn needs to get the go-ahead from parliament. Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni have sparred publicly in recent months after the US president criticized Italy for not helping US action in Iran. He said Meloni was doing "poorly in Italy" and suggested this was linked to her refusal to let the United States use Italian "landing strips or runways" during the conflict with Iran. Trump also revived his long-running complaint that the United States spends heavily to protect "so-called" NATO allies, saying Washington contributes hundreds of billions of dollars to defend Italy and others.
