Italian Prime Minister and far-right leader Giorgia Meloni confirmed this Tuesday the firm adherence of Italy to the European Union and NATO and categorically denied any “sympathy” or “closeness” with fascism in his first speech before Parliament.
“Italy is fully part of Europe and the Western world,” he strongly stated.
Meloni in order to reassure his European allies. “We are not going to stop or sabotage the EU but to make it more effective in responding to crises,” he added after stressing that he will respect “the rules in force” in budgetary matters.
(Also read: Giorgia Meloni: How did she go from the ranks of post-fascism to power in Italy?)
The 45-year-old leader, who was sworn in on Saturday as the first woman to rule Italy, illustrated his government program and addressed the most sensitive issues at the international political level, what worries his allies in the Old Continent.
In his speech of more than an hour, with a confident tone, but also with personal allusions, he categorically denied any “sympathy” or “closeness” with fascism, wanting to dispel criticism of his militancy since his youth in the movements founded by the heirs of fascism.
“I have never had any sympathy or closeness to anti-democratic regimes. For any regime, including fascism,” he insisted.
Before the parliament, which will have to vote confidence in its Executive, he promised that Italy will continue to be “a reliable partner for NATO”, that it will maintain “its support for Ukraine and its opposition to Russian aggression”.
A delicate point that provokes friction between his allies in the right-wing coalition, in particular with the leader of the League, Matteo Salvini, and with the founder of Forza Italia, the tycoon Silvio Berlusconi, a personal friend of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
(You can read: What awaits Italy and the European Union after the victory of the extreme right?)
Meloni vows to fight inflation
“Giving in to Putin’s energy blackmail does not solve the problem, it aggravates it and opens the way to more demands and blackmail, with future increases in energy, even higher than those we have registered in recent months,” he warned about the increase in energy and gas prices, which has triggered inflation.
Meloni illustrated his proposal to face the inflationary wave, the energy crisis and the risk of a recession in the third largest economy in the euro zone.
Inflation will be a “priority” issue, for which he wants to “reinforce support measures for households and businesses,” an economic bet “that will exhaust a large part of the available resources,” he acknowledged.
Regarding the 200,000 million euros (197,000 million dollars) available in donations and loans from the European Union’s post-pandemic recovery fund, he assured that they will be spent “without delay and without waste.” “These issues must be addressed pragmatically, not ideologically,” she said.
(Keep reading: Giorgia Meloni: who is the first woman to come to power in Italy?)
Meloni’s program will be submitted to a vote of confidence this Tuesday at night in the Chamber of Deputies and on Wednesday in the Senate.
The successor of Mario Draghi, to whom he paid homage, will have to obtain confidence without problems since his coalition has a large majority in both chambers.
During his government, the most right-wing in Italy’s history since World War II, Meloni promised that “he will not deviate an inch” from democratic values and that he will “fight against any form of racism, anti-Semitism, political violence, discrimination.” , said.
“I come from a political history that was relegated for years,” he confessed in a very personal tone.
(Also: The Rise of Giorgia Meloni in Italian Politics)
The far-right leader also cited the women who have marked the history of Italy, from the journalist Oriana Fallaci to the anti-fascist Tina Anselmi and the communist Nilde Iotti.
They are the women who “built the ladder that today allows me to break this heavy glass ceiling,” she said, confessing the weight she feels for being the first woman to reach the head of government in Italy.
*With information from AFP
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