On Thursday when the leaders of the 27 countries of the Union met to find an agreement on the multiannual financial framework, over a thousand tractors blocked the streets of Brussels, to the point that Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas was forced to arrive walk to the Europa Building. The farmers' protest, which has been going on for weeks across the continent, has thus reached the doors of the European institutions, while heads of government and state have tried to break the impasse on the review of the long-term budget for the period 2021- 2027, inclusive the 50 billion euro aid package for Ukraine which Viktor Orban's Hungary had vetoed at the last summit in December.
Aid to Ukraine, how Orban resistance was won
Two points are included in the draft conclusions to try to overcome Orban's resistance. Firstly it is added that “in case of necessity, in two years the European Council will invite the Commission to make a proposal for a revision” in the context of the next financial framework. The second point says that “the European Council recalls its conclusions of December 2020 on the application of the conditionality mechanism” of the rule of law committing itself to ensure fair treatment of Member States (Hungary still has around 20 billion in European funds frozen by the Commission which accuses it of violating the rule of law, ed.). In the end the wall erected by the Hungarian prime minister comes down and the Council gives the green light to the agreementto the satisfaction of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni who claims her role as mediator in the difficult negotiation with Budapest.
In reality, after the start of the work, it only took a few minutes for the President of the European Council Charles Michel to announce the “deal”, because thea square had already been found in the interviews of the previous hours: those of the night between Wednesday and Thursday, when Orban had a face-to-face meeting at the Hotel Amigo with both Meloni and French President Emmanuel Macron, and those of this morning at the Europa Building, where a restricted meeting of the three leaders with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, with Michel and with the President of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen. In the end Meloni can claim victory: “It wasn't easy to find a solution, we have always been convinced that a 26-member solution would have been a dangerous precedent. We worked hard for a 27 solution and brought it home“. And on the mediation with Orban he observes: “We worked with the Hungarian prime minister trying to reach a point that would allow us not to divide Europe at a time like this, because we have other problems. In Europe we need to know how to dialogue with everyone”. But the affair of Ilaria Salis, the Italian jailed a year ago on charges of having attacked two right-wing extremists.
The Salis case
The images of the Milanese teacher, brought in chains before the judges, went around the world and aroused the indignation of a large segment of Italian politics and public opinion. The prime minister asks her counterpart to guarantee respect for the rights of the prisoner, obtaining reassurance on this point from Orban, who however makes it clear that he cannot intervene with a straight leg on the judges: “I have made it clear that in the Hungarian system the judiciary does not it depends on the government but on Parliament”, explains the Hungarian prime minister after the summit with Meloni. “The judicial system is totally independent from the government. The only thing I am entitled to do – adds Orban – is to exert influence so that Salis gets fair treatment“.
Meloni hopes for a “fair trial” for Salis, but above all a “fast” trial: “I was struck – the Prime Minister remarked – that the hearing was postponed to May, I hope that perhaps something more can be done on this. For the rest neither I nor Orban can enter into the judgment that falls to the judiciary. I can only hope that Ilaria Salis will be able to demonstrate her innocence and her non-involvement in the disputed facts. In the background remains the European elections and the question of alliances to be built after the June elections: in this case too Orban plays an important role, since Fidesz, the Hungarian leader's party, is about to join the family of European Conservatives of which Meloni is president. “The debate is open” but we will talk about it after the EU vote, says Fdi's number one.
Resources for migratory flows
On the migrant front, Meloni greets positively the allocation by the European Council of resources for flow management: “The 8 billion allocated to the external dimension serve to address the issue of migration on a certainly security level but also on a development plan”, states the prime minister, highlighting how in Europe the Italy-Africa summit which took place in scene in the Senate a few days ago. For Meloni there is also time for a meeting with the president of Coldiretti Ettore Prandini, who arrived in Brussels to defend the reasons for the demonstration which led over a thousand Italian farmers to “attack” the headquarters of the EU Parliament. “I am the political leader of a party that in Europe has voted against most of the questions that farmers rightly pose today – underlines the leader of Via della Scrofa -. We said that the ecological transition should not be ideological and that we should not exchange environmental sustainability with economic and social sustainability, and today we are starting to see the results. European politics must be changed“.
(from the correspondent Antonio Atte)
#Council #Meloni #media #Orban #Ukraine #Salis #case
