Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema said on Tuesday that a controversial project to expand an American military base in the northern city of Vicenza would take into account the concerns of the local population.
Speaking on the sidelines of an Italo-Spanish summit here on the island of Ibiza, D'Alema said that "we have brought up with the Americans the need to consider the environmental and urban impact of the base".
D'Alema, who is also deputy premier, said that he had discussed the issue during a meeting in Brussels last month with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
The minister's comments came three days after more than 70,000 people marched through the streets of Vicenza in protest at the base's enlargement.
The project has also created divisions in the nine-party coalition of centre-left Premier Romano Prodi.
Three of Prodi's allies, the Communist Refoundation Party (PRC), the Italian Communists' Party (PDCI) and the Greens, are demanding that locals be given the chance to express their views via a referendum.
But Prodi says there can be no backpedalling on his decision.
Many opponents of the enlargement plan are now looking to Washington, hoping that the scale of the protest will convince the US administration to modify its project.
US officials have already indicated the American government's willingness to revise building plans in order to minimise the impact on the city and its residents.
But D'Alema stressed on Tuesday that Rome and Washington were not currently in talks on the matter.
The old Vicenza base currently houses some 2,750 troops.
The expansion project involves building barracks at the Dal Molin airport on the other side of the city to accommodate 2,100 more US soldiers who are currently stationed in Germany.
Washington's aim is to unite its 173rd Airborne Brigade, which is divided at the moment between Vicenza and two bases in Germany.
If Prodi had nixed the plan, the Vicenza base would have been shut down altogether and American troops transferred to Germany.
RESIDENTS' CONCERNS.
But residents fear an enlarged base will strain the city and its resources, create serious traffic problems and possibly make Vicenza a target in the event of a military conflict or terrorist attack.
They are also concerned about the impact on a city which is on UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites, boasting a host of buildings and villas by Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio.
Environmentalists stress that the base's enlargement would involve the destruction of one of the city's main green areas.
Sources at the Foreign Ministry told Italian daily La Repubblica that housing for the troops could be built on a different side of the Dal Molin airport so as to reduce the traffic impact.
Designers are also looking at the possibility of lowering the buildings to reduce their visibility.
Cinzia Bottene, the leader of a local protest group, was quoted by La Repubblica as saying: "The Americans are pragmatic. Protests against the base are growing and this is creating problems, even in Washington. We think the Americans could be convinced to rethink the issue".
Prodi announced last month that he would not object to US plans to expand the base, arguing that it was diplomatically impossible to go back on the informal consent given to Washington by the previous, Silvio Berlusconi-led government.
The premier stressed on Saturday the importance of Italy's alliance with the US and NATO.
"I decided not to modify our 50-year-old defence policy... I have always said our foreign policy rests on three pillars - the United Nations, the European Union and NATO," said Prodi, who won last April's general election.
Surveys show that some 70% of Vicenza's 115,000 residents are against expanding the base.
The Vicenza council has thrown out proposals to hold a referendum on the base's fate even though local polls have shown that 84% of locals would like to have a say on the issue.
There have been repeated demonstrations by locals against the base expansion plan.
But there have also been smaller protests by those who argue that Vicenza's economy will suffer if the base is closed and that more than 1,200 locals who currently work at the base will lose their jobs.
