She’s the Italian Margaret Thatcher. This little piece of woman – because she is not very tall, and that is an understatement – has just pulverized all the beautiful, soothing scaffolding of her alter egoaccording to which no one could do anything about immigration, and especially not alone (read: without the EU). Not only did Italy not need Europe to act, but it is Europe that needs Italy… to be inspired. Georgia Meloni is a woman of character – for the anecdote, greeting a Democratic regional president who had called her ” co**asse ” in a private conversation, she presented herself, in public, during an official visit, with an icy ” I’m that bitch Meloni “. It should therefore appeal to feminists like Sandrine Rousseau. Especially since, if there are deconstructed men, there are also constructed women: Georgia Meloni has a spine.
And no one can take that away from me!
The tirade of Meloni, then simply leader of Fratelli d’Italia, during a major meeting in 2019 in Rome, left its mark, and rightly so, because in this anaphora (so famous that it was set to music) his profession of faith was entirely contained: “ I am Giorgia, I am a woman, I am a mother, I am Italian, I am Christian, and no one can take that away from me “. There we find a summary of what she intends to defend: a coherent corpus and not just a cookie thrown to voters.
A year after the signing of the agreement between Rome and Tirana, and a few days after the arrival in Albania of the first migrant boats stopped at sea by Italy, Giorgia Meloni said her “ pride ” duty ” Italy has become a model to follow “. In fact, France, in the person of Bruno Retailleau, says it is looking towards Kazakhstan, Egypt and even Iraq for a similar procedure. The Germany of the very centrist Olaf Scholtz is suspicious of Italy, tempted to take advantage of the copy of its little comrade whom it considered until then, however, as a dunce. Ursula von der Leyen herself promises to “ learn from this experience “. To stay in Germany, Georgia Meloni is also the anti-Angela Merkel: to the famous “ We make it » of 2015 answers the “ If you enter Italy illegally, you will be detained and repatriated » of 2024. Facing the camera, Giorgia Meloni addresses candidates for migration: “ If you enter Italy illegally, you will be immediately deported ».
Already, on August 28, the figures published by the Italian Ministry of the Interior had caused a stir: since August 1is January, the number of illegal migrants arriving in Italy had fallen by 65%.
In Rome, “it is not far from the Capitol to the Tarpeian rock”, but the opposite is also true: Georgia Meloni was, until recently, fairly demonetized. Doomed to vilification for characterized failure. In fact, a year after her election, Meloni herself admitted not having met with the expected success… arguing that Rome was not built in a day. Gérald Darmanin, in May 2023, had moreover accused the president of the Italian Council of having shown herself “ unable to resolve migration problems », establishing, just as dryly, a parallel with Marine Le Pen. The idea was, on the eve of the European elections, to despair not in Billancourt but Hénin-Beaumont and other towns of the same type: populists from all over the world, stop voting, it’s useless! Your candidates, too, achieve nothing.
However, it is clear today that Georgia Meloni took action. Alone, but seeking contacts: within Europe, of course, to defend the Italian fat and rally to its cause, but also and above all with the Mediterranean countries to repatriate illegal immigrants. According to the daily The newspaperat least 9,000 migrants, in 2024, would have left for Libya and Tunisia. Then it increased the number of measures, both dissuasive and repressive, aimed at dampening enthusiasm: sanctions for smugglers, control of NGOs, restrictions on the right to work… There was also the “Mattei plan”, a 5-member partnership. .5 billion euros with the various African countries, on which it communicated extensively during the last G7 chaired by Italy and the outlines of which it outlined in January 2024 during the Italy-Africa conference. Cooperation with an energy aspect but also a migratory aspect. It is clear that Italy is beating France.
No new taxes
Finally, an essential corollary, it puts in place a family policy. Italy is, in this regard, in even more difficulty than France. The year 2023 broke a sad record: the average number of children per woman increased from 1.24, in 2022, to 1.22, in 2023. The fall has continued to accelerate for thirty years . Meloni made demography his “ top priority “. Previous governments have shown very little interest in this subject. A major first in Italy, the Minister of Finance, Giancarlo Giorgetti, has just outlined a family quotient to help large families. To which will be added several other measures in favor of the birth rate, including a birth bonus of a thousand euros which Meloni has just announced.
Major difference with France: Italy, even if it is also under procedure for excessive deficit, wants to keep its promise to lower taxes. Meloni speaks of a “ budget you compromise », « which dissatisfies no one and does not propose a new tax “. The Italian Iron Lady has not finished giving lessons to the straw men on this side of the Alps.
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