He criticizes the European Central Bank after President Christine Lagarde’s announcement of a new rate hike in July, reiterates his no to ratify the Mes at this time, illustrates the government’s strategy on the migrant dossier. In view of the European Council, Giorgia Meloni intervenes in Parliament to take stock of the summit scheduled for tomorrow and the day after in Brussels and places particular emphasis on inflation, an “almost forgotten” problem but which has returned “to hit our economies” so much that “we remember how it is a hateful hidden tax, which affects above all the less well-off and those with a fixed income”. For the prime minister, it is right to “fight it decisively”, but “the simplistic recipe for rate hikes undertaken by the ECB is not the most correct path to pursue, considering that in our countries the generalized increase in prices is not the result of an economy that is growing too fast, but due to endogenous factors, first of all, the energy crisis caused by the conflict in Ukraine”. The prime minister therefore is clear in stating that one cannot fail to consider “the risk that the constant increase in interest rates ends up affecting our economies more than inflation” and that is that “the cure turns out to be more harmful than the disease”. In short, for Meloni there is the risk that the increase in interest rates could somehow “create further imbalances”. And to those who accuse her of attacking the independence of the ECB, she replies dryly: “I defend my right to evaluate the decisions that are taken. The role of politics is not to say yes uncritically”.
And the leader of the Brothers of Italy is not ready to say yes even to the ratification of the Mes. Indeed, the Prime Minister reiterated that “Italy’s interest today is to tackle the negotiations on the new European governance with a package approach, in which the rules of the Stability Pact, the completion of the banking union and the financial safeguard mechanisms are discuss as a whole in accordance with our national interest”. Sul Mes, therefore, confirms that he has not changed his mind but adds that he is “a person who has always been used to assuming his responsibilities and I will do so in this case too, but I want to try to defend the Italian national interest as best as possible. I tell the whole Parliament that discussing this provision now is not in Italy’s interest”.
Among the government’s priorities, on the other hand, is the management of migratory flows “to stop the inhuman trafficking of human beings that continues to claim victims in the Mediterranean”, recalls Meloni after expressing “condolences” for the shipwreck on the Greek coast. “A civilization like ours cannot leave the power to decide who enters Europe or not to the slavers of the 21st century”, he attacks, recalling that if the issue of defending the EU’s external borders is not tackled “upstream” achieve a just and effective migration and asylum policy”. Regarding the interlocutions in Europe on the dossier, he then clarified that he would “never accept being paid to transform Italy into the refugee camp of Europe. What we asked for and obtained is that those resources instead feed a fund to defend the borders external parties, not to manage illegal immigration but to fight it”. “It is evident – he explains – that relocations have never been our priority. The issue cannot be resolved by trying to offload it to another nation. The issue is that we put resources into the external dimension, so to address the problem first come to us”.
Among the topics that will be discussed in Brussels, Meloni reiterates that the EU will confirm its “convinced support” for Kiev and that, as far as the search for peace is concerned, “the government has done everything possible to favor and support the mission that Cardinal Zuppi carried out on the recommendation of Pope Francis”. The hope, however, “is that a just and lasting peace can be reached as soon as possible in full respect of international law and the territorial integrity of Ukraine”. Finally, on the relationship with China, another dossier on the agenda at the summit, the prime minister acknowledges that it is necessary to pursue a non-hostile but “more balanced” relationship with Beijing. And on the Silk Road he reiterates that “the evaluations are underway, there is still time to change the decision. I think it is an issue that needs to be handled delicately, even involving Parliament. On such important issues I would not press to speed up but to find solutions as valid as possible for the defense of our national interests”.