According to Italy correspondent Pauline Valkenet, there is also little evidence of the ‘shooting to the right’, as expected with Meloni. Particularly in foreign policy, where Rome has consistently continued on the old course. “No Euroscepticism, but trying to keep ties with France and Germany as good as possible,” says Valkenet.
“No Euroscepticism, but trying to maintain relations with France and Germany in the best possible way”
Italy has also continued to support Ukraine with arms, he says. With this, Meloni also remains in the wake of her predecessor Mario Draghi. “So there weren’t any surprises or shocks about it.”
Fear
The big surprise is that there really aren’t any surprises, says Valkenet. Especially since Brussels and the rest of the European Union feared the possible course of Meloni, considered a post-fascist. “She was quite unknown, her party (Brothers of Italy, ed.) is considered right-wing nationalist, and it was very small until before the elections,” she explains. “In Brussels they didn’t know what to expect.”
The concerns have not only proved to be superfluous so far, but there could even be a friendship between Rutte and Meloni, born when he visited Meloni in Rome. Rutte spoke of “good cooperation between us as people” and that he was “looking forward to shaping the European engine block”.
Positive tone
Rutte’s positive tone contrasts with the traditionally critical tone Holland has had of lavish Southern Europe. Valkenet thinks that critical tone hasn’t disappeared just because of Rutte’s friendly tone. “But it is clear that Italy and Holland have met on the issue of immigration.”
While it is high on the agenda in the Netherlands in relation to the current reception crisis, such a crisis has long been high on the agenda in Italy. Both Rutte and Meloni have already stated that they want to drastically reduce this immigration and want to cooperate in this, and that “they want to make agreements with African countries to stop emigration from there as much as possible”, continues Valkenet. “Following the example of the 2016 deal with Turkey.”
No choice
However, Valkenet points out that Meloni has little choice. Not only because Italy is a member of the European Union and of the euro, and therefore must respect the rules in terms of expenditure and budget, but also because Italy has a huge public debt. “So as soon as crazy things are announced, the financial markets get tense and interest rates on Italian government bonds go up,” he says. And then Italy is even further from home. So there is little room to move.’
Moreover, Italy is on the verge of obtaining almost 200 billion euros from the European fund for the recovery from the coronavirus. With that amount, Italy receives by far most of the money from the fund, “but then it has to adhere to the agreed plans that Mario Draghi has made with Brussels”, concludes Valkenet. ‘About how the money is spent, when it is invested and what reforms are being made with it. If Meloni does not comply, no more money will come from Brussels. And that would be a huge missed opportunity.’