The head of the Italian Government shows signs of cooperation with the EU in a first official visit clouded by the new migration crisis
The Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, launched her international agenda this Thursday with a high-level trip to Brussels. In just one day, she met with the main representatives of the European institutions: the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen; the leader of the Council, Charles Michel; and the head of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola. The appointment, a few days after being sworn in, seeks to appease the EU, which is concerned about the coming to power of the extreme right in one of its main powers.
«With this trip I wanted to dismantle face to face certain narratives that exist from the Italian Government. We are not Martians. And, on the other side, I have also found people willing to listen,” Meloni said in statements to journalists. The prime minister was open to working with the Union to “address the major problems, from an Italian and also a European perspective, starting with the energy crisis” and seek “a quick and effective solution”.
The far-right leader has not yet made her debut at the Council leaders’ meetings and, in her speech before the Italian Parliament, she claimed the alliance with the EU and NATO, while distancing herself from the pro-Russian positions of her government partner, former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
However, the EU does not rule out future tensions. Brothers of Italy, Meloni’s party, is committed to greater sovereignty of European countries before Brussels. The first push and pull could come from the change in its immigration policy, after the Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi, assured that the country will no longer let migrants rescued by NGOs from other countries disembark at its ports.
immigration policy
There are currently more than 1,000 people on humanitarian ships in the Mediterranean awaiting permission to land. After the minister’s rejection, Germany yesterday tried to get the Italian authorities to recapitulate and asked them to admit the migrants since their ports and those of Malta are the closest to the area where they were rescued. Berlin requested that they at least take care of the children.
Also the European recovery funds will be a sticking point. Meloni suggested before the Italian Chamber that he wanted to renegotiate “adjustments” with the Community Executive in the plan that establishes the reforms that the Government must undertake to receive Next Generation aid.
The Community Executive responded to Meloni’s statements by stressing that all member states must comply with what is written in their recovery plans. The agreed terms are immovable except in exceptional situations when governments demonstrate that they cannot meet the objectives set. After his meeting with Meloni, Von der Leyen thanked the “strong signal” of his visit to Brussels and the opportunity to discuss “critical issues.”
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