Comipa calls, but Sardinian politicians don't listen. Indeed, they even ignore it, even denying it a meeting space. Not an amateur association, but the civilian members of the Joint Committee for Military Easements—a body established by law—sent a detailed letter to the Regional Council (president and group leaders) challenging its inaction in the face of state and defense industry initiatives in Sardinia.

A clarification is necessary: new activities and installations in Sardinia's firing ranges and its easements must be reviewed by the Committee (composed of civilians appointed by the Regional Council and the island's armed forces leaders), which is called upon to express its opinion. Any majority opposition to projects and operations would involve even the Ministry of Defense. Yet, despite communications and requests, little or no response has come from the Sardinian "powerhouses" regarding a long series of military reports.

Almost a year ago, on April 30, 2025 , the regionally appointed members of Comipa formally warned both the regional presidency, the regional council presidency, and the group leaders of the risks deriving from Paola Chiesa's (FdI) bill, requesting a formal position on the issue and intervention by the Region and the entire council with Sardinian parliamentarians to raise their awareness of the bill's contents. The bill, it is said, establishes a primacy of defense needs over regional environmental regulations . In short, Sardinian regulations protecting the territory could be blocked by the General Staff. The reasoning: international tensions would dictate that exercises and experiments should not be hindered. According to Comipa, this proposal risks nullifying and setting back by more than twenty years the issue of military presence in Sardinia and the associated burdens. It is a prospect that raises considerable concerns and appears to condemn entire portions of the approximately thirty thousand hectares of Sardinian territory currently used by the Defense to oblivion and definitive disfigurement. What's been done? Press releases, so far.

But that's not all: Comipa "complains about the lack of involvement by military commands on matters that are strictly within its jurisdiction. We refer in particular to the new rocket-missile testing projects at the Quirra Test Range (Nike Area)." There is a plan for the construction of a launch base for suborbital rockets (project MR10) "which would involve the use of thousands of kilograms of cryogenic propellants (liquid oxygen and methane): "We have not been formally entrusted with the discussion of this project, as required by the regulations on military easements. We do not know whether the planned activity is exclusively civilian/scientific (linked to NRRP funds and the aerospace sector) or whether it has dual-use or purely military purposes (tactical propulsion). We do not know whether the traffic volumes and polluting emissions (CO2, particulate matter, etc.) resulting from the tests have been assessed, and whether these are compatible with the clearing schedules and civilian activities in the area.

The list of complaints isn't over. There's also an explicit accusation against the institutions: "For the first time in its history, the Committee has been deprived of dedicated offices." And its members are forced "to meet in impromptu settings, relying on the availability of some of its members' private offices and their own resources to draft its documents, conduct communications, and conduct research." These activities are complicated by the fact that "the documents are covered by confidentiality and secrecy and therefore cannot be stored in spaces shared by anyone other than those authorized to view them."

The continued requests to "remedy this unprecedented and unfortunate situation by assigning a fully equipped and operational headquarters, even a different one from the one assigned to Comipa in previous regional councils," were to no avail.

Added to all this, the statement continues, "is a widespread neglect by regional politicians to involve Comipa and listen to its opinions in all activities —including meetings of the Technical Roundtables established pursuant to the Agreements between the Sardinia Region and the Ministry of Defense—where it has jurisdiction and could provide important technical input to discussions at the roundtables with the Ministry of Defense delegates."

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