Meloni’s first meeting today with the EU leadership in Brussels

The extreme right Prime Minister Italy’s Giorgia Meloni will meet her EU counterparts in Brussels today for the first time since taking office, in a meeting expected to be dominated by the energy crisis.

The journey of 45-year-old Meloni, who has vowed to defend Italy’s interests above all else, is being closely watched as there are concerns that disagreements may arise between her government and European institutions.

Meloni will meet with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Charles Michel and European Parliament President Roberta Metzola.

Italy’s first female prime minister, head of the country’s most right-wing government after World War II, he goes to Brussels in no mood for confrontation, according to political analyst Lorenzo Contonio. “Meloni is a realist and wants to pass the image of a moderate leader.”

The Italian prime minister, who heads the eurozone’s third-largest economy, is expected to focus on the need to take immediate action to lower energy prices, a battle started by her predecessor Mario Draghi.

“Discussions will focus on energy (…) the most immediate problem at the time when winter is approaching”, underlined Contonio, according to which Meloni will try to show that there is continuity in the governance of Italy and will ask for solutions “at the European level”, following his line Dragi.

This trip is not expected to have “any substantial consequences for the immediate future,” Il Messaggero newspaper commented today, adding that it is to allow Meloni to assess “the prospects” of European aid to the country.

European leaders are hopeful from their side that they will take advantage of the opportunity “for na better understanding of Melon’s intentions“said Sébastien Maillard, director of the Jacques Delors institute.

“Beyond the reassuring messages” about Rome’s commitment to the West and NATO, but also the distances it took from fascism, Meloni “ultimately was quite vague about what she wants to do,” he added.

European leaders should appear prudent to avoid pushing the Italian prime minister into the camp of the EU’s two nationalist black sheep: Poland and Hungary.

However, Magyar assessed that “in economic matters (Meloni) has no interest in opening a front with Brussels”.

But it will be difficult for Brussels to at some point avoid a confrontation with Italy over immigration, the issue on which the far-right bases its rhetoric, as the country is a gateway for immigrants to Europe.

RES-EMP

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