Guido Crosetto (born 19 September 1963) is an Italian politician and businessman who is the Minister of Defence since 22 October 2022. Crosetto began his political career in Christian Democracy (DC). In 1994,he joined Forza Italia (FI) and was mainly involved in the local politics of Piedmont. From 1990 to 2004,he was mayor of Marene. His rise in national politics began with his election to the Chamber of Deputies in 2001,a position he held until 2013 and from 2018 to 2019.
Crosetto was born into a family of entrepreneurs in Cuneo,in the Italian region of Piedmont,on 19 September 1963.[1] After his father's death,Crosetto could not finish his studies in economics at the University of Turin. While at the university,he met Paolo Rosso,[2] became a member of the youth wing of the DC,and in 1988,at age 25,he became the economic advisor to Prime Minister Giovanni Goria.[3]
From 28 May 1990 to 14 June 2004,Crosetto served as mayor of Marene,a small village near Cuneo where he lives,for three terms.[4][b] In 1999,Crosetto ran for the presidency of the province of Cuneo as an independent candidate close to the centre-right coalition but lost to the centre-left coalition fellow former DC member Giovanni Quaglia. He was provincial councilor of Cuneo from 1999 to 2009,serving as group leader of FI,the centre-right political party and member of European People's Party (EPP) founded by the billionaire and media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi. He chaired the Conference of Mayors of the Savigliano-Saluzzo-Fossano ASL from 1993 to 1997.[5]
Upon its founding,FdI was referred to as the anti-Monti right-wing.[9] From 20 December 2012 until 4 April 2013,when he was succeeded by La Russa,Crosetto served as president of FdI.[10] As a candidate for the Senate of the Republic,Crosetto failed to be elected in the 2013 Italian general election because FdI votes did not exceed the electoral threshold set at 3% by the electoral law known as Porcellum.[11]
Crosetto ran in the 2014 European Parliament election in Italy but was not elected because once again FdI votes did not exceed the threshold set at 4% for European elections in Italy.[12] On the same day,Crosetto ran in the 2014 Piedmontese regional election as the FdI candidate for president of Piedmont and ran alone outside the centre-right coalition led by Berlusconi's FI. In this election,the regionalist Northern League (LN) led by Matteo Salvini was allied with FI against FdI,supporting Gilberto Pichetto Fratin's candidacy. In the election,which was won by the centre-left coalition,Crosetto finished in fourth place,gaining 5.2% of votes.[13]
Following these electoral defeats,Crosetto retired from politics in September 2014. Without Crosetto,FdI was led by Meloni,who moved the party further to the right and built closer ties to Salvini's party,which eventually became the right-wing populist League (Lega). Crosetto returned to politics when the deputy Daniela Santanchè,a right-wing businesswoman and former member of PdL and FI in Lombardy,joined Meloni's FdI in December 2017. Crosetto and Santanchèin FdI represented the small and medium-sized enterprises of Northern Italy in the 2018 Italian general election. They became respectively members of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic because the party's electoral support increased,[14][15] surpassing 4.3% of votes at the national level for the first time.[16][17]
In February 2018,in response to Roberto Speranza's comments about the anti-fascist demonstration in Rome and the lack of presence by FdI ("You should have been in the square tomorrow. I'm sorry you're not there;it's a serious mistake"),Crosetto responded from Piedmont,stating:"If I were in Rome,if I weren't in my homeland engaged in a difficult election campaign,I'd be with you. So I authorise you to say that I'm with you,as national coordinator of Brothers of Italy."[18] His comments were criticised from the right by Pasquale Viespoli.[18] In December 2018,Crosetto's speech to the Chamber of Deputies during the approval of the 2019 budget law was applauded and went viral,[19] even earning the "comrade" (compagno) label by La Repubblica. Crosetto later commented:"You've heard speeches like the one in the Chamber before;when I lambasted Berlusconi,when I clashed with Tremonti or Scajola,when I voted against the fiscal compact. The paths are varied,but one tries to maintain consistency."[20]
Crosetto resigned on 13 March 2019 to continue his business career,[1] and after two days his former seat was assigned to the first candidate on the list of non-elected at the 2018 general election,the businesswoman and FdI member Lucrezia Mantovani.[21] In April and May 2019,as non-candidate spokesman of the party,Crosetto helped Meloni in the campaign for the 2019 European Parliament election in Italy. FdI,which became a member of European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR),increased its electoral support,surpassing 6.4% of national level votes for the first time.[16][17] As a representative of the moderate wing of FdI,Crosetto was open to the possibility of the tricolour flame,which is reminiscent of the party's neo-fascist origins through the Italian Social Movement (MSI),to be removed from the party logo. In January 2019,this caused an uproars among other party members.[22]
Within a context that saw FdI rise from 4.3% to 6.5% and some polls showing support as high as 15% in July 2020,Crosetto described FdI as "a boring party,it always says the same things" but did not use it as a negative,elaborating:"Parties today are faltering. Those who vote for Brothers of Italy must make a greater effort because they don't follow trends. They can't say 'I like their position on this issue,' but it will always be a position they have today,had yesterday,and had five years ago."[17] In contrast to those who saw FdI as a return of the right or argued that it could represent the true right,Crosetto did not see it entirely that way,stating that "Brothers of Italy is the heir of the right,but it's something more. The ideal outcome is a party with those values but with a broader policy,a mass conservative party."[17] In this sense,Crosetto saw FdI more as a conservative mass party akin to the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) rather than a right-wing one like the then National Front led by Marine Le Pen.[17]
Business career in the defence sector
In September 2014,Crosetto left his political commitment and was appointed for some years president of the Federation of Italian Companies for Aerospace,Defence,and Security (AIAD) of Confindustria,and in the same year became Senior Advisor to Leonardo S.p.A.[23][24] In April 2020,he was appointed chairman of Orizzonte Sistemi Navali,a company created as a joint venture between Fincantieri and Leonardo S.p.A.,which operates in the naval engineering and systems sector,designing and building military naval units,in particular corvettes,frigates,and aircraft carriers.[25][26][27]
As defence minister,amid divisions within the centre-right coalition and in contrast to the pro-Russian views of Salvini and the League,[35] Crosetto became one of the most vocal supporters of Ukraine in the Russo-Ukrainian war.[36] In February 2023,he stated that the Ukrainian resistance was "a battle for freedom,a battle for international law,a battle for Europe".[37] Moreover,he added that the NATO military support to Volodymyr Zelenskyy's government prevented the break out of World War III,which would have been inevitable if "Russian tanks reached Kyiv".[38] Due to his statements,Crosetto became the target of attacks from members of the Russian government and elite. Former president Dmitry Medvedev labeled him as "foolish",while Yevgeny Prigozhin,founder of the Wagner Group,heavily insulted him.[39] On 15 March,the Italian newspaper Il Foglio reported that the Wagner Group put a €15 million bounty on Crosetto.[40]
During his ministry,Crosetto often criticised the migration policies promoted by Germany and its chancellor Olaf Scholz,[41][42][43] saying that he would have expected from Germany more "assistance and solidarity" with Italy in its "moment of difficulty" as it coped with the rise of immigrants within the country.[44] In May 2024,he criticised Israel's actions during the Rafah offensive in the Gaza Strip.[45] After a few days,he expressed opposition to the use of Western-supplied weapons for attacks inside Russia and stressed the need to "leave open the possibility of negotiating an immediate truce and initiating peace talks in the coming months."[46] On 10 October 2024,Israeli troops opened fire at three UNIFIL positions in South Lebanon,including UNIFIL's main base at Naqoura,in the area of responsibility of the Italian contingent.[47] The attack damaged communication systems between the base and the UNIFIL command in Naqoura.[48][49] Crosetto described the attack as a "possible war crime" and urgently summoned the Israeli ambassador to Italy over the events that occurred at the UNIFIL bases,where Italian personnel operate.[50][51][52] He also contacted Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for a discussion and a formal protest asking for guarantees on the safety of Italian personnel and UNIFIL bases.[53][54]
Personal life
In 2005,Crosetto began a relationship with Gaia Saponaro,[55] a former volleyball player from Apulia who worked in London,Hong Kong,and Sydney,[56][57] whom he married on 4 July 2015.[58] Together,they had two children.[59][60] Previously,Crosetto was married to a volleyball player from the Czech Republic,with a son born in 1997.[60] In September 2023,Crosetto criticised Novella 2000,which is controlled by Visibilia of Santanchè,for having published photos of him with his wife.[61][62]
Like fellow Meloni ministers Antonio Tajani and Elisabetta Casellati,[73][74] Crosetto is a supporter of Juventus.[75][76] In July 2006,amid the Calciopoli scandal,he was open to the idea of an amnesty,which polarised Italian politics,with supporters and opponents across the political spectrum.[77] For example,Piero Fassino of The Union,the centre-left coalition that had just defeated Berlusconi's,invoked the clemency of the judges,who had been appointed by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) special commissioner Guido Rossi,and this was not unprecedented as an amnesty was issued under similar conditions in 1982.[77] Crosetto shared the principle that tifosi should not pay for the mistakes of football directors,commenting:"The law should punish the responsible managers but leave Italians the chance to dream with their champions and their teams."[77] Crosetto criticised the Calciopoli decisions by the FIGC,arguing that the salvation from relegation for all the other clubs initially involved had been a political decision,particularly that of Fiorentina,and compared the sports proceedings to the Gestapo.[78] Crosetto said:"I wouldn't want only those who have friends in The Union,like Fiorentina,to be acquitted."[78]
In line with the view of most Juventus supporters,many critics and commentators,and the club itself that Juventus received unequal treatment,Crosetto referred to Fiorentina because it was saved from relegation despite being sanctioned with a direct Article 6 violation (warranting relegation) and multiple Article 1 violations (like the other clubs who were ultimately not relegated),while Juventus was controversially relegated to Serie B due to three Article 1 violations (usually warranting fines or penalty points),with the sports decisions explicitly citing the "popular sentiment" (sentimento popolare).[79] In 2010,the controversies prompted a proposal of a parliamentary inquiry commission about the 2003–2006 football years and the role of politics and media in the 2006 scandal and the Calciopoli bis developments in subsequent years.[79] Although such a proposal was supported by members of various parties across the political spectrum,including among others the centre-left Democratic Party (PD),the centrist Italian Radicals (RI),and Crosetto's centre-right party,a parliamentary commission was never established.[79]
Amid the club's unsuccessful spell in the early 2020s after an unprecedented run of nine Serie A league titles in a row,Crosetto expressed criticism of the squad performances under then head coach Massimiliano Allegri.[80] During the Italian presidential election in January 2022,he joked that he would rather be president of the Juventus Club in Parliament.[81] In March 2024,in his role as defence minister,Crosetto issued a complaint,[82] which resulted in an investigation revealing the illegal dossiering and spying of bank accounts of around 740 VIPs and political figures,including not only Crosetto himself among other politicians and entrepreneurs,[83] but also Juventus (the only Italian football club to be victim of the alleged illegal spying,with the other football figure being FIGC president Gabriele Gravina),[84][85][86] in particular the figures of Andrea Agnelli,Allegri,and Cristiano Ronaldo dating back to 2021.[87][88][89]
↑In the comune of Marene, the office of mayor (sindaco) before 1995 was elected by the city council (indirect election) without term limits. After 1995, the mayor began to be elected by citizen (direct election) with term limits (only two consecutive terms). Before 1995, the term of the mayor of Marene was five years, and from 1995 to 1999 was four years; after 1999, the term became five years.
1234Elected in a closed list proportional representation system
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
