«We have 300 billion for the country’s strategic projects, having obtained the flexibility we asked for»- Corriere.it

At the end of the European Council Giorgia Meloni reviews the points for which she is very satisfied and the country she governs can be, she remarks. In her words: “We have been asking for flexibility in the accounts for months, especially for those with less fiscal space, now we are moving towards a package that will allow us to manage 300 billion euros in the coming years, between Pnrr and Cohesion Funds”. Resources that can “be concentrated on the country’s priorities”. Like that of the defense of external borders and a structural partnership with African states: the European Council approved the agreements in progress between Brussels and Tunisia, but “in the conclusions it is also written that the one with Tunisia can be a model and we also arrive at 15 billion euros for the external dimension, a mass of resources that was unthinkable until a few months ago”.

And not bad if Hungary and Poland protest, “we managed to build a consensus on the external borders, and Italy played a leading role, it’s not that I’m disappointed by Warsaw and Budapest, I’m never disappointed by those who defend their national interests, but they defend the their internal space, we will never find unanimity on internal space, even for us the pact on relocation is a step forward but it is not the primary focus”. For the Prime Minister, it is right to insist on this point. Poland and Hungary protest over the agreements concerning the right to asylum and relocation, “a plan that probably will never see all 27 of us agree, instead we must concentrate, and here we are unanimous, on the external dimension of the borders of the Union European Union, this is the structural focal point, which is strategic in the medium and long term. Helping Africa, building strategic relationships based on cooperation also in the energy sector is much easier than agreeing among ourselves on relocations”.

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