Toasts and laughter between Meloni Macron and Scholz, sitting at the same table in a room of the Hotel Amigo in Brussels, on the eve of the European Council. A friendly and conversational atmosphere that saw the three leaders as protagonists, peppered with smiles and jokes. A few meters away were the Minister for European Affairs and the PNRR Raffaele Fitto and the Prime Minister's new diplomatic advisor, Fabrizio Saggio, as well as government staff. The long face-to-face meeting between the Italian Prime Minister and the French President turned into a three-way meeting, when the German Chancellor was added to their table – who was wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt.
The meeting with Meloni and Scholz went “very well”, there was “an excellent discussion”, Macron told reporters at the end of the meeting. Orban's veto on Ukraine's entry into the EU? “I'm optimistic, we're all willing,” added the Elysée number one.
Tomorrow the three will meet at the summit of the 27: on the agenda the topic of the enlargement of the EU to the Western Balkans, but above all the revision of the multiannual financial framework of the EU 2021-27, with the reform of the Stability Pact in the background. The negotiation is still ongoing and, by Meloni's own admission, it is not at all simple. But in the meantime we toast with red wine, a few hours before the summit of EU heads of state and government. On the agenda, among the various items on the agenda, there will also be the Ukraine issue. Viktor Orban's Hungary sees Kiev's rapid entry into the EU like smoke and mirrors. Meloni will try to soften his positions with his Budapest counterpart, on the occasion of a bilateral meeting on which the Sherpas of Italy and Hungary are working.
#MeloniMacronScholz #meeting #Brussels