Meloni closer than ever to Biden’s USA

The recent death of Silvio Berlusconi, known for his pro-American stance but also for being a great friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin, further distances Italy from Russia and brings it closer than ever to the US, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni recently saying there are two conditions for being a part of her government: Europe and Atlanticism.

Meloni made the comment shortly after Berlusconi’s controversial statements on Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy, adding that whoever does not share her views on the EU and US “is out.”

“Berlusconi has always been on the side of the West, a bulwark in relations with the United States and Israel. The Meloni government continues on this path and confirms the Italian government’s Atlanticism,” political philosopher Corrado Ocone told EURACTIV.

However, Meloni has not always shared NATO’s policies. In 2016, for example, she criticised the decision to deploy troops, including Italian troops, to Latvia in 2018 and called the then-premier Matteo Renzi to account.

“This is idiocy worthy of Barack Obama’s failed foreign policy. Europe and Italy have no interest in creating a climate of cold war with Russia”, she wrote on social media.

Today, however, Meloni not only agrees with NATO’s every move concerning the war in Ukraine but also seems to have a very good relationship with current US President Joe Biden, despite the political distance and criticism of him before she came to power.

“We want to be allies and not subjects. I am not happy to hear US President Joe Biden say that sanctions (on Russia) will have a minimal impact on Americans. Here in Italy, the impact will be maximum, it is the case of distributing burdens and honours. We will not be the pack mules of the West”, said Meloni from the stage of a Fratelli d’Italia rally in Milan in April 2022.

The first meeting between Meloni and Biden occurred at the G7 in Hiroshima, Japan, where they were immortalised in a popular photo in which Biden held the Italian premier’s hand. On the other hand, Meloni’s first official visit to the United States appears to be scheduled for July, eight months after her inauguration at Palazzo Chigi.

“We are working to organise PM Meloni’s visit to the US in July. The premier will see President Joe Biden further to strengthen the partnership between the US and Italy. There is a common vision between Italy and the United States, they are our main ally in the world”, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani (Forza Italia/EPP) said during his visit to Washington on Monday, where met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Italy’s proximity to the United States, moreover, seems to be pushing further away the renewal of the Silk Road pact with Xi Jinping’s China, signed in March 2019 by former Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte (5-Star Movement) during the ‘yellow-green’ government together with Matteo Salvini’s Lega, now in government with Meloni.

“Coherence would like that agreement not to be renewed today, even though it will create economic and diplomatic problems”, explains Ocone, who recalls how the League was critical of the agreement with China from the beginning, even though it was part of the government.

Meloni will have to decide by the end of the year how to proceed since the agreement, if not renewed by the Italian government, will expire in March 2024.

(Federica Pascale | EURACTIV.it)