Meloni’s first in the European Council: We are not aliens

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I wanted to organize in Brussels my first institutional visit abroad. I wanted to send the message that Italy wants to participate, to cooperate, to defend its national interest and to do all this within the European dimension, the Italian Prime Minister said among other things

After the conclusion of her meeting with the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni referred to the results of her visit to Brussels, with statements to the journalists who accompanied her from Rome. In more detail, the new head of the government of Rome emphasized:

“I wanted to organize in Brussels my first institutional visit abroad. I wanted to send the message that Italy wants to participate, to cooperate, to defend its national interest and to do all this, within the European dimension, looking for the best solutions together with other countries, regarding the great challenges that we face

I met the President of the European Parliament (Roberta) Metzola, the President of the European Commission (Ursula) von der Leyen and the President of the European Council, Charles Michel. I had lunch, at the same time, with Commissioner Gentiloni. I knew Paolo Gentiloni and Roberta Metzola, while I had not met the other two interlocutors. I think that from a human and personal point of view we had a clearly positive and honest exchange of views. I am pleased with the outcome of the day, I presented the Italian perspective on some of the big issues we have to deal with. The Ukrainian and its domino consequences, that a European solution should be given as quickly as possible – in a concrete way – to the issue of the increase in energy prices and the ceiling on the price of natural gas, which, as you know, has been discussed in recent weeks. At the last Summit, steps were taken and now substantial solutions must be found as soon as possible.

We have, of course, referred to financial resources, to how the resources of our national Recovery and Resilience Plan can be best utilised. At the same time, taking into account the difficulties that exist (such as the increase in the cost of raw materials and inflation) we talked about how we can work together, so that the Recovery Plan is implemented and all the funds are made available. With reference also to the major priorities such as, exactly, energy. We talked, of course, about migration flows and the change in the Italian position: for us, from now on the priority is an approach already provided for by European regulations. It is nothing more than the protection of the external borders. This is a delicate and important issue and today I met interlocutors who were willing to listen to me,” he added.

Concluding, the Italian Prime Minister noted that she had talks on many other issues as well, such as the protection of high-quality Italian food. “The whole atmosphere I found today in Brussels satisfied me. Personal contact with people can help deconstruct the way some have presented the emerging and new Italian government. We are not extraterrestrials but normal people who present their positions and I think that on the other side of the table there were people willing to listen to us. It is a first meeting and then there will be a specific collaboration, with reference to the individual issues. Starting with the Minister of European Affairs, Raffaele Fito, who accompanied me today, but also with the participation of all our other competent ministers”, concluded Meloni.

RES-EMP

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