The head of the Italian government Giorgia Meloni said on Saturday that she hoped that Europe would take into account the ” message “ sent by European citizens to the elections, marked by a surge from the far right.
Ms. Meloni, emerging stronger from this election with more than 28% of the votes for her post-fascist party Fratelli d’Italia, hopes that ” Europe understands the message that came from European citizens because drawing lessons from the European elections that everything was going well would, I fear, be a slightly biased reading “.
“Pragmatism” and a “less ideological approach”
“European citizens demand pragmatism, a less ideological approach on various major issues”affirmed Ms. Meloni during the closing press conference of the summit of heads of state and government of the G7 which was held from Thursday to Saturday in Puglia (south) under Italian presidency.
Giorgia Meloni is a virulent opponent, for example, of the European Green Deal and a promoter, on the other hand, of a tougher approach to the migration issue. “ I think that politics must above all respond to indications coming from citizens “, she insisted.
Negotiations on “top jobs”
The heads of state and government of the 27 are meeting on Monday in Brussels to negotiate on “ top jobs », the leaders of the main EU institutions, and in particular on the possible reappointment of Ursula von der Leyen as head of the Commission.
“ We will meet on Monday and it is in this forum that we will begin our evaluations “, she confirmed, recalling that the “ proposal » for the presidency of the Commission « returns to the European People’s Party (EPP), the party with the largest number of parliamentarians “.
Twelve of the 27 members of the European Council are members of the EPP, and, according to an unwritten rule, the winner of the European elections can claim the presidency of the European Commission. Ms. Meloni also hoped that “Italy will be recognized for its rightful role in terms of the skills it will have to take care of when the Commission is formed.”
Controversy surrounding the right to abortion
The head of the ultraconservative Italian government also castigated Saturday “ an artificial controversy » on the lack of mention of the right to abortion in the leaders’ final declaration.
“ The controversy was constructed in a completely artificial way and in fact it is a controversy that did not take place at the top (…) because there was nothing to argue about », assured Ms Meloni during the press conference closing the summit, while this subject made the headlines in the media in Italy and abroad.
In the final declaration released Friday evening, the leaders of the seven richest democracies on the planet made no direct reference to the right to abortion. A significant change compared to the last summit in Hiroshima, Japan, in 2023, when the press release showed their attachment to “ access to safe and legal abortion and post-abortion care services “.
The subject gave rise to a standoff behind the scenes between the delegations. The United States, France and the European Union, in particular, wanted to keep this wording, but the Italian Prime Minister, at the head of an ultraconservative party and who holds the rotating presidency of the G7, categorically refused to write black on white the formulation approved last year.
