Italy Prime Minister Meloni meets EU chiefs in Brussels
The Hindu
“The voice of Italy in Europe will be strong: we are ready to confront the big questions, starting with the energy crisis, working together for a solution to help families and businesses to halt speculation,” Ms. Meloni tweeted ahead of her arrival.
Italy’s far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni started a series of meetings with EU chiefs in Brussels on Thursday, with her commitment to European unity in the spotlight.
The trip by the nationalist leader - her first internationally since taking office late October - is being closely watched because of fears her vow to put Italy’s interests first might roil relations between Brussels and Rome.
“The voice of Italy in Europe will be strong: we are ready to confront the big questions, starting with the energy crisis, working together for a solution to help families and businesses to halt speculation,” Ms. Meloni tweeted ahead of her arrival.
Her first handshake was with the head of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, who stressed Italy’s ”central role in the EU”.
“More than ever - with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, skyrocketing energy prices and rising inflation - we need to stick together. We are stronger if we are together, ”Ms. Metsola tweeted pointedly. After Ms. Metsola, Ms. Meloni was to be welcomed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen; then by European Council chief Charles Michel.
Ms. Meloni - who once called for Italy to scrap the euro and railed against an “invasive” EU - has been more conciliatory in her public comments in recent months. Political analyst Lorenzo Codogno told AFP that Italy’s first woman prime minister - and the head of Italy’s most far-right government- since World War II - would be taking a diplomatic rather than belligerent tone.
“Ms. Meloni is pragmatic and wants to be perceived as a moderate and mainstream leader,” he said.