New PM Meloni lambasts critics and says Italy is committed to Europe
-
Loading... - Josefine Hansen
- 31 Oct 2022
- 74 Views
- 0 Like
- 0 Comment
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni confirmed her government’s support for the European Union, NATO and Ukraine on Tuesday in her first address to parliament, one month after her far-right party accomplished a historic election victory.
The 45-year-old, who was sworn in as Italy’s first woman premier on Saturday, also rejected any links with the country’s fascist past, saying she had “never felt sympathy or closeness to undemocratic regimes… including fascism”.
During the address, Meloni took a swipe at her French counterpart Emanuel Macron, who following a meeting with Meloni on Monday reportedly said that Paris would keep an eye on her administration and judge it based on its actions.
“Those who want to monitor Italy from abroad have better things to do with their time,” the new prime minister said, adding that such international critics “do not disrespect me but the Italian people, who don’t need to take lessons from anyone.”
While affirming Italy’s place in the EU, Meloni reserved some criticism for the bloc, which she said has “often not been ready” in the past to perform its function as “a shared home to face challenges that member states struggle to face alone.”
The institution is “not an elite club with major and minor league members,” she asserted, adding that Italy would go to Europe “with its head held high, as a founding country, without subordination and a sense of inferiority as seems to have happened in the past.”
The prospect of a Eurosceptic, populist government leading the eurozone’s third largest economy had previously sparked concern among Italy’s allies, particularly in the European Union.
“Italy is fully part of Europe and the Western world,” Meloni told the lower house of parliament, adding that it would “continue to be a reliable partner of NATO in supporting Ukraine”.
The last government, under the leadership of Mario Draghi, was one of the strongest EU supporters of sanctions against Russia and backed the shipment of weapons to Kyiv. Read More...
