Mobilization against F-35 warplanes at NATO airbase in Sicily – meeting in Salemi (TP) on 24 January 2026
See also, previous protests in UK (Oct 2025): https://freedomnews.org.uk/2025/10/08/protesters-blockade-sheffield-weapons-factory-in-national-day-of-action-against-the-f-35/
Download poster and read article below.
The plan to strengthen NATO in Italy, agreed between the Meloni government and the US government, provides that by 2028 the military airport of Birgi, in the province of Trapani (which currently houses a NATO forward operating base and the 37th Wing of the Italian Air Force, responsible for heavy military operations in the Mediterranean basin), will host the largest training center in Europe for F-35 fighter bombers. Instead of demilitarizing the base, as local populations have been demanding for years, it is being upgraded, putting the civilian airport, the water supply, and the delicate ecosystem of the nearby Stagnone di Marsala nature reserve at risk.
Following a series of online meetings involving dozens of people across Sicily, the first assembly to organize initiatives against the militarization of Birgi, the F-35s, and training in their use was held on December 28 at the Circolo Peppino Impastato in Salemi. More than thirty people from various locations in the former provinces of Trapani and Palermo participated in the meeting, along with approximately 12 people who joined remotely from the consortia of Ragusa, Enna, Messina, Agrigento, and Trapani. During the meeting, the committee’s preparations and mobilizations against F-35 training in Birgi were discussed. Following a report on the militarization of Birgi, the new training base project, the environmental and social issues involved, and the military programs currently underway involving the territory, the committee’s presentation document, currently being prepared and approved, was discussed. It was proposed to analyze and denounce the international dynamics surrounding this new NATO project, as well as the risk of imminent wars caused by global military escalation. The potential risks to the Stagnone Reserve, a natural area that would be drastically compromised by the overflight of F-35 fighter jets, were also highlighted.
The final part of the meeting was devoted to proposals for mobilization initiatives and for involving the local population in the committee.
Side note: During the meeting, two intruders were identified among the audience, who were presumably two agents from the Trapani D.I.G.O.S. (Special Operations Division).
The next meeting to organize the mobilization will take place at the Circolo Peppino Impastato in Salemi (TP) on January 24, 2026, starting at 2 p.m. It will be possible to participate online.
“It is the culture of war that must be rejected”
