Rome, Jan 25 (IANS) Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has issued a strong public response after US President Donald Trump suggested that NATO allies had failed to fully support the United States during military operations in Afghanistan, remarks that have sparked backlash across Europe.

In a statement posted on X, Meloni said, “The Italian Government has learned with astonishment of President Trump’s statements according to which NATO allies would have ‘fallen behind’ during operations in Afghanistan.” She stressed that such claims overlook the unprecedented solidarity shown by the alliance following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Meloni recalled that “Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, NATO activated Article 5 for the first and only time in its history: an extraordinary act of solidarity toward the United States.” She underlined Italy’s immediate and sustained military commitment, noting that Rome deployed thousands of troops and assumed leadership of Regional Command West, one of the most strategically important areas of the NATO-led mission.

“Over the course of nearly twenty years of commitment, our Nation has borne a cost that cannot be disputed,” Meloni wrote, citing 53 Italian soldiers killed and more than 700 wounded during combat operations, security missions, and training efforts for Afghan forces.

She concluded that “statements that minimize the contribution of NATO countries in Afghanistan are unacceptable, especially if they come from an allied Nation,” while reaffirming the long-standing relationship between Rome and Washington. “Friendship requires respect, a fundamental condition for continuing to ensure the solidarity at the heart of the Atlantic Alliance,” Meloni added.

Trump’s remarks, made during an interview with Fox News at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday (January 22, 2026), triggered outrage and concern across the United Kingdom and other NATO countries the following day. “We’ve never needed them, we have never really asked anything of them,” Trump said, referring to NATO allies. “You know, they’ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan, or this or that, and they did, they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines.”

Trump also said he was uncertain whether NATO would support the United States if assistance were ever requested, comments that many European leaders viewed as dismissive of two decades of allied cooperation.

In October 2001, nearly one month after the September 11 attacks, the United States led an international coalition into Afghanistan to dismantle al-Qaida and remove its Taliban hosts. Forces from dozens of countries participated, including NATO members whose mutual-defense clause had been invoked for the first time in the alliance’s history.

--IANS

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