Subscribe here: [ Ссылка ] Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has written to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz telling him she learned with "astonishment" of a German government initiative to finance migrant charity groups operating in the Mediterranean.

The right-wing Meloni is pursuing a hard line against illegal immigration but Italy has seen a surge in migrant arrivals this year with some 133,000 coming ashore so far against around 69,800 in the same period in 2022.

Meloni's letter is dated Sept. 23 and was made public after Defence Minister Guido Crosetto, a senior figure in Meloni's Brothers of Italy party, also took aim at the German government for supporting the charities in an interview on Sunday.

Meloni's letter to Scholz, seen by Reuters, said: "I have learned with astonishment that your administration - without coordinating with the Italian government - has allegedly decided to support with substantial funds non-governmental organisations engaged in the reception of irregular migrants on Italian territory and in rescues in the Mediterranean Sea."

The Italian leader, hardline at home and moderate abroad, is in a powerful position after the European elections. When Giorgia Meloni met Joe Biden at the White House in March, he played Ray Charles’s Georgia on My Mind as she entered the room. “We have each other’s backs,” he later told reporters, before planting a tender kiss on her forehead as the meeting wrapped up.

The cosy get-together was the clearest sign yet that the Italian prime minister, a chameleon of a communicator, had been able to cultivate warm relations with the US president, who had previously expressed concerns about her Brothers of Italy party’s neofascist history.

As Europe reels from the far-right’s advances in the European parliamentary elections, the pair will reunite among the olive trees of a secluded resort in the southern Italian region of Puglia on Thursday, when Italy hosts the G7 summit. It is an event Meloni intends to use to burnish her image on the international scene, even as her government draws criticism at home for its hardline approach on numerous issues.

“This time, really, all eyes are on her,” said Francesco Galietti, the founder of Policy Sonar, a political consultancy in Rome. “Everyone assumes that [French president] Emmanuel Macron and [German chancellor] Olaf Scholz are kaput, or are at least doing some very heavy maintenance work. Meloni is the host … But there’ll be some very big demands.”

Freshly empowered by her success in Sunday’s European ballot, where Brothers of Italy won almost 29% of the vote, up from just more than 6% in 2019, Meloni has already travelled to the Borgo Egnazia resort, which is frequented by celebrities such as Madonna and David Beckham, with her seven-year-old daughter, armed with a dossier of talking points including global conflicts, Africa, the spread of AI, the climate crisis and immigration.

With its stone villas, replete with almond-filled baskets, and narrow, winding alleys, the resort, which opened in 2010, is modelled on an ancient Puglian village. “Entering Borgo Egnazia is like stepping back in time,” said Dario Iaia, a Brothers of Italy parliamentarian for the Puglia region. “It’s an environment that conserves the history of Puglia’s tradition.” However, one detail of history the brochures fail to mention is that the land on which the resort stands was razed during Benito Mussolini’s fascist rule to build an airbase.

Since taking power, Meloni has worked hard to curate a moderate, respectable image overseas, calming her doubters while wielding influence over key leaders, especially Biden and the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen. At the same time, she maintains close relations with global far-right allies, joining the chorus at Vox’s “great patriotic convention” in Spain in May to rail against socialism and “massive illegal immigration”.

While Meloni’s staunch support for Ukraine against Russia has warmed western allies to her, the G7 will be a litmus test for her Atlanticism, especially as Italy will be expected to facilitate a solution to the much-debated problem of how to leverage profits generated by confiscated Russian assets and use them for Kyiv’s benefit.

Stay connected with us!
Facebook: [ Ссылка ]
Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
Instagram: [ Ссылка ]

#eudebates the unique initiative aiming to promote debate, dialogue, knowledge, participation and communication among citizens. #Italy #Meloni #G7 #ECR #Italian #VonderLeyen #Macron #Biden #uspresident #POTUS #USA

свернуть