Stoltenberg’s quotes about Ukraine? “You have to be very careful.” And in the Middle East “we must immediately talk about two peoples and two states”
“I’m not scared of the idea of referendum and I don’t consider it a referendum on me. I consider it a referendum on the future of Italy”. The Prime Minister, Giorgia Melonsto ‘In half an hour’, clarifies that he will not resign if the proposal is rejected constitutional reform which introduces the premiership: “If the reform does not pass it will mean that the Italians” they don’t approve of it. “I reach the end of my five years and I will ask the Italians to be judged. The rest are hopes from the left”, she continued during an interview which covered many of the hottest dossiers, from Ukraine to the Middle East, from the Toti case to the European elections.
So what did he mean by saying ‘Make it or brake it’? “‘It was because they asked me ‘Do you think it could be dangerous, because it could bring you problems if the reform doesn’t pass?’. Who cares. If the reform doesn’t pass it will mean that the Italians won’t have shared it. But since this to say ‘If I lose the referendum I will resign… No, look, we are not understanding each other. I am reaching the end of my five years and that is where I will ask the Italians to be judged, when I have finished my work“he stressed.
The opposition’s accusations of unavailability for dialogue are rejected by the sender: “I don’t think that the request for dialogue should be addressed to me because I have already demonstrated that I am open to dialogue. I remember that I started from a French-style semi-presidentialism proposal. I consulted the political forces and arrived at another reform that met what the political forces were asking for. The first of these demands was the role of the head of state. He is a figure whose authority is recognized by all and therefore we have not touched the role of the head of state.”
How much to the agreement with Albania on migrants, also the subject of controversy, the Prime Minister assured that “it is moving forward, and will be operational soon. It will work and will lead the way for other similar projects. It is a project on which we want to do things well”. “The exponents of the left criticized us for doing Guantanamo in Albania, now they criticize us for the alleged delays”, he continued, I want to thank Edi Rama”.
“Many questionable statements about the war in Ukraine”
A passage on the roads is inevitable statements by the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, who urged allies to allow Kiev to use supplied armaments to strike targets on Russian territory. “Notwithstanding that war always brings with it unknowns, this narrative according to which Europe is on the brink of a wider conflict always seems counterproductive to me”, underlined the prime minister, “I don’t know why Stoltenberg says something like that. I think we need to be very cautious.
“There have been many statements in recent months that have seemed questionable to me”, he continued, quoting Emmanuel Macron’s phrases on the sending of ground troops, “I advise greater prudence”.
“Israel also respects international law”
Regarding the other major international crisis underway, the Gaza war, Meloni, who met his Palestinian counterpart Mohammad Mustafa yesterday, believes “that the need to respect international law must be reiterated towards Israel”. “What I see is that Israel risks slipping into exactly the trap that the fundamentalists had set up – he observed – that trap was to force Israel into a very strong retaliation on home soil because the strategy of fundamentalism is historically to isolate Israel” . “This is happening on an international level, it is happening in our public opinions and I believe that this is why we must reiterate, also towards Israel, the need to respect international law”, said Meloni, who said she was “frightened” by the ‘absence of empathy that there was and still is regarding Israeli civilian victims. This tells of a latent anti-Semitism that is coming out and is worrying.”
“We must continue to work towards a sustainable ceasefire For the release of all the hostages, I think we need to prevent an Israeli attack and entry into Rafah. I think we need to strengthen the Palestinian national authority: this is what I said yesterday to the Palestinian prime minister, it is a fundamental step if we want to build a stable and lasting perspective of peace for the Middle East too. I think that Italy should be very proud of the work it has done in recent months in terms of humanitarian support”, he continued, “I also think that we must not wait to build a stable structural solution. It would be a mistake if we started talking about ‘two peoples, two states’ when the crisis is over – underlined the Prime Minister -. I think one of the ways to end the crisis is to start talking about it now. And Italy is playing a role in this. And I think that Europe can play a role in this.”
Toti case? “Only he knows the truth”
Another very delicate chapter concerns the president of the Liguria Region, Giovanni Toti, accused of corruption. Would it be appropriate for him to resign? “I believe that only Giovanni Toti is in a position to give an answer to this question, because only he knows the truth. I think that he is in a position to evaluate what is best for the citizens of the region.”
“I haven’t had the opportunity to speak with Giovanni Toti and it’s difficult to get a clear idea about this story. For the future I would like”, and this applies to everyone, “that between when there is a request for precautionary measures and when it is carried out if months did not pass. Don’t wait for election campaigns”, he added.
“I think that this commission and this Europe has made a lot of mistakes. It’s not that I say it in Italy, I say it in Europe”. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni stated this on ‘In half an hour, denying that she is making any changes in her line in Europe. “I have an institutional collaborative relationship with Ursula von der Leyen”, she added. “Sometimes Ursula von der Leyen seemed more pragmatic to me than most of her,” she replied to those who asked her if she recently “gave up” as president of the EU commission, running for a second term.
“Send the left into opposition in Europe too”
Finally the European elections. How far could a rightward expansion of a new EPP-led majority go? “I’m not used to certificates of presentability”, replies Meloni, “my main objective is to try to build a centre-right majority and send the left into opposition in Europe too”, she reiterated, “I think what rainbow majorities produce are downward compromises. We are not in a historical period in which we can afford a Europe with downward compromises. The citizens decide who will be part of the majority. I am not willing to form a majority with the left, everything else is clear.”
And the debate on Europe inevitably implies that on stability pact which “has a temporary phase of return, it is sustainable on paper”. “In the meantime, the best way to support public debt is to encourage growth. We must continue to give signals to our productive world. We have found a rather disastrous situation. As regards the 2014-20 cohesion funds, of 120 billion, they had been 47 spent: tell me if Italy can afford not to spend these resources”, he continued. “On paper the disaster is a 220 million euro hole for having renovated 4% of the houses. In any case this government will do its best, concentrating resources on the important things.”
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