After taking office as Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni delivered her first programmatic speech to the Chamber of Deputies in Rome in the morning. There she wants to face a vote of confidence in the evening, which her government still needs after taking office at the weekend.
In her first government statement, the politician from the far-right Fratelli d'Italia spoke, among other things, about the EU, Italian refugee policy and the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. The most important statements at a glance.
In her first government statement as Italy's new prime minister, Meloni stated that she had never sympathized with fascism. She "never felt sympathy or closeness to anti-democratic regimes. For no regime, not even for fascism," she said. "Likewise, I have always considered the racial laws of 1938 to be the low point of Italian history, a disgrace that will mark our people forever."
Under dictator Benito Mussolini, the fascists issued a number of ordinances in 1938 through which Jews in the country were harassed, persecuted and ultimately deported.
At the age of 15, Meloni joined the youth organization of the Movimento Sociale Italiano (MSI), a party founded by fascists after World War II. In 2012 she then founded the Fratelli d'Italia party, which still has a flame in its symbol, reminiscent of Mussolini's grave. Meloni repeatedly emphasized that she was proud of the coat of arms.
In her speech in Parliament, she now said: "The totalitarianisms of the 20th century tore the whole of Europe, not just Italy, for more than half a century in a series of atrocities that affected most European states. Atrocities and crimes, by whom however committed, deserve no justification and are not compensated by other atrocities and other crimes. There is no comparison at the abyss: one just falls into it."
The Italian Prime Minister has continued to pledge her country's full support to Ukraine in the war against the Russian aggressor. As part of the Atlantic Alliance, Italy continues to stand reliably by Kiev's side, she said. "And not just because we cannot accept a war of aggression and the violation of the territorial unity of a sovereign state," said Meloni. "But also because this is the only way we can defend our national interest in the best possible way."
The party leader of the far-right Fratelli d'Italia stressed that Ukraine's freedom should not be sacrificed in favor of lower energy costs for Europe. "Giving in to Putin's blackmail would not solve the problem, it would exacerbate it," she said.
In her speech, the politician, who is considered EU-skeptical, also underlined Italy's anchoring in the transatlantic alliance, in Europe and in the G7 group of the world's important democracies. Meloni wants Italy's voice to be heard "within the European institutions," "as befits a founding country."
She also announced that Italy will follow all current European Union rules. However, her executive will also make proposals "to change those rules that have not worked, starting with the current debate on reforming the Stability and Growth Pact". Italy will contribute to the international debates with its head held high.
Meloni wants her government to prevent the arrival of boat migrants. "This government wants to go down a path that has hardly been explored until now: stopping illegal departures and finally breaking up illegal human trafficking in the Mediterranean," she said in front of the Chamber of Deputies. "If you don't want me to talk about ship blockades, I'll say it like that," the 45-year-old continued.
She went on to say that her right-wing government, in coordination with the authorities of the North African countries, wants to set up centers in the "hotspot areas" where international organizations will check whether people have a right to asylum. "We don't want to raise the issue of the right to asylum for those fleeing executions," said Meloni. They just want to prevent smugglers from deciding who is allowed to come to Italy.
Meloni's statements are a bad signal for the civilian sea rescuers in the Mediterranean, who regularly take in hundreds of migrants who get into distress on their way from Libya or Tunisia to Italy.
As Italy's new head of government, Meloni wants to apply fewer restrictions when dealing with the corona virus. The Mediterranean country of almost 60 million people has had the strictest measures in the West and has one of the highest death and infection rates, she said. "Something clearly didn't work there, and that's why I want to say that there's no way we're going to emulate that model." Listening to doctors is more valuable than any bureaucrat's written policy, and correct information and prevention are more effective than coercion.
Under their predecessor Mario Draghi, Melonis Fratelli were in the opposition and mostly railed against the Corona measures at the time. A new corona wave cannot be ruled out, but one can learn from the past, said Meloni.
