A month after the far-right Brothers of Italy party won the election, Meloni used her maiden speech in parliament to reassure the country and its allies, calling herself a strong supporter of the EU’s third-largest economy in the EU. euro zone. “Italy is an integral part of Europe and the Western world,” he said, adding that the country would remain “a trusted partner of NATO in supporting Ukraine.” The allocation to the representatives preceded the confidence vote of the deputies (yesterday) and the senators (today).
Meloni, who was sworn in as Italy’s first female head of government on Saturday, also rejected all ties to her country’s fascist past — and that of her youth — saying she had never “felt sympathy or closeness with non-democratic regimes, including the fascism”. The prospect of a Eurosceptic and populist government in Italy, a founding member of NATO and the European Union, raised concerns in Brussels, although EU leaders quickly sent congratulations on his appointment and pledged cooperation.
The last government led by Mario Draghi was one of the strongest proponents of sanctions against Russia for the EU’s invasion of Ukraine, and also sent weapons to Kiev. In the opposition, Meloni unreservedly supported Draghi’s policy towards Ukraine. But one of his coalition partners, former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, broke through last week when a recording in defense of his “friend” Vladimir Putin was made public.
Italy was heavily dependent on Russian gas before the war and now faces inflation, fueled by skyrocketing energy bills, which threatens to trigger a recession next year. Meloni said he would strengthen existing measures to help businesses and households deal with rising prices, but would not give in to “Putin’s blackmail on energy”.
But it’s not just Forza Italia that Meloni faces obstacles. Before the speech, League leader Matteo Salvini presented his own program to the government. In a series of tweets, the Deputy Prime Minister with the Infrastructure and Transport portfolio promised, among other things, to build a long-discussed and extremely expensive bridge between the mainland and Sicily, which he says would create hundreds of thousands of jobs. The leader was indifferent to the deception of the Allies and optimistic about the challenges: “I am what the British call a” inferiorg, the one who, shall we say, is not the favourite, the one who must defy all predictions to be successful. That’s what I plan to do again.”
In the speech, Meloni pledged to cut taxes on businesses and households, while simplifying bureaucracy to encourage investment. “Structural and sustainable growth” is the answer to Italian debt reduction (145% of GDP this year, the highest in the eurozone after Greece). The priority is to cope with the rise in energy bills and look for alternative sources for Russian gas, he said. However, he warned that aid in this area “will consume much of the available resources and delay other measures” he hoped to introduce in the next budget, without specifying which ones.
The key to Italy’s growth lies in the EU’s €200 billion recovery and resilience plan, which relies on Rome implementing criminal justice reforms in public administration. Meloni said the money was “an extraordinary opportunity to modernize Italy” but that he would seek “adjustments” to the plan to take into account the rising costs of energy and raw materials.
Source: DN
