Melons, in this way they weaken everyone. The discontent shared with the leaders of the Unione-Corriere.it

Giorgia Meloni
not regretted at all. He has recently reopened a diplomatic confrontation with France, accused Macron
to weaken Europe, it risks appearing or being weakened by its own words, but it believes it has said them rightly. Until now all the secret and effectiveness of the European reaction to the war has been unity, we are all making sacrifices and instead in this way all this work is weakened, the reasoning gathered by the Italian delegation participating in the European Council.

The words of the Prime Minister, the accusation against Macron of having taken a decision that goes against the interests of the Union for reasons of image and internal politics, take center stage in the early hours of a summit which has been distorted in its agenda by the presence of the Ukrainian leader. Work begins eight hours late. Giorgia Meloni even before Zelensky sees the leaders of her own party, has a meeting with the prime ministers of Poland and the Czech Republic, Mateusz Morawiecki and Petr Fiala. Support is being sought for the objectives of the summit, primarily on migrants and state aid to European companies, among the allies of the continental right: both prime ministers belong to the party that presides over our premier. He could review them at a trio in the next few days in Warsaw. Perhaps just before traveling to Kiev.

There is also a claim in the entourage of the head of government, and that of having publicly represented a discontent shared by many other European states. Organizing a dinner at the Elysée on the eve of the Brussels summit, forcing even Scholz to rush to Paris, would also be judged inappropriate by the heads of the EU institutions, from Ursula von der Leyen to the President of the European Council, Charles Michel. Yet the only one who exposed herself was she and together with the claim there are also veiled perplexities about the goodness of the decision: Berlin and Paris still remain, willy-nilly, the historical engine of the Union. And even among those who work for the Italian government it is possible to hear doubts about the appropriateness of Meloni’s choice.

A choice that inevitably leaves the subjects in the background and the details of the summit, the Italian match on state aid to European companies and possible progress on the migrant dossier. Everything takes a step back from the presence of Zelensky and the meeting that Meloni herself announced the night before with the Ukrainian president. At first it appears postponed, as well as the bilaterals of all the other European leaders. The Prime Minister meets the head of the resistance against Russia together with the leaders of Spain, Sweden, Romania, Holland, Poland and Sweden. He arrives slightly late for the meeting, together with the Dutch premier Mark Rutte.

Immediately after for the staff of Palazzo Chigi to communicate that a face-to-face meeting with Zelensky was also held, at the request of the Ukrainian president himself. Fifteen minutes of conversation, according to Italian sources. The two leaders are filmed by the cameras as they speak standing up, leaning against the large table of the 27-seat summit. Meloni’s forthcoming visit to Kiev is being discussed, perhaps also the necessary Italian authorization (in addition to that of other states) to get to Ukraine the fighters promised by London. Defense systems and weapons that have components of technology that need the green light from a group of different countries.

With the French president, Emmanuel Macron, instead there are no contacts. The hands of the clock seem to have gone back in time to the days of the G20 in Bali. Even today, the photographers’ shot follows the many from the Indonesian summit: Macron smiling ahead, Meloni, ironically, right behind him, in his double-breasted red jacket. They are next to each other but seem to ignore each other, talking to different interlocutors. At ten o’clock in the evening the work of the summit is in full swing, the text of the conclusions is being refined, our diplomats are in any case optimistic, we will arrive at a good result for Italy.

For Giorgia Meloni it means recognition of the specificity of maritime borders, a huge leap that is hard to imagine in the last five or six years. It is also a green light for the flexibility of existing European funds for the energy transition and aid to national companies. At stake is the possibility of remodulating the allocation of Pnrr resources and of adding them, for the competitiveness of businesses, also from the Cohesion Funds of the old and new European budget. Today we will see if the two objectives have been achieved.