Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s presumed incoming prime minister, has promised Ukraine that she will continue to back their military effort against Vladimir Putin.
Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted his congrats to the head of the far-right Brothers of Italy, who won the most votes in Sunday’s elections and will become the country’s first female leader.
Zelensky stated in Italian, “We value Italy’s unwavering support for Ukraine in its struggle against Russian aggression.
We anticipate a fruitful relationship with the incoming Italian government.
Meloni, who hailed Putin on his 2018 election victory and is forming a coalition with Matteo Salvini and Silvio Berlusconi, both of whom have supported the Russian leader throughout the conflict, guaranteed voters that she will support Ukraine.
Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s presumed incoming prime minister, has promised Ukraine that she will continue to back their military effort against Vladimir Putin.
Congratulations were tweeted by Volodymyr Zelensky to the Brothers of Italy’s leader.
She responded, “You are aware that you can count on our unwavering support for the cause of Ukrainian freedom.”
“Remain courageous and keep your faith firm!”
Despite Italy’s reliance on Russian gas, outgoing Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi has been one of the staunchest supporters of EU sanctions on Russia over Ukraine.
Rome has also provided armaments to help Kyiv combat the forces of President Vladimir Putin.
Meloni is a Euroskeptic, yet he has supported Draghi’s stance on Ukraine and supports arming Kyiv for self-defense.
Last week, her coalition partner Berlusconi stirred outrage by asserting that Putin was ‘pushed’ into invading Ukraine and that he only wants ‘good people’ in charge of Kyiv.
The Italian politician and former prime minister, whose Forza Italia party is the minority partner in the three-party coalition, is a longtime buddy of Putin, and his remarks are certain to upset Western friends now that he is back in office.
Zelensky stated in Italian, “We value Italy’s unwavering support for Ukraine’s battle against Russian aggression.”
Putin was forced by the Russian people, his party, and his ministers to launch this special operation, Berlusconi said late Thursday on Italian state television RAI, using the official Russian term for the conflict.
Originally, Russia intended to seize Kiev “in a week,” replace the democratically elected Zelensky with “a government of moral people,” and then withdraw “in another week,” he added.
The 85-year-old Berlusconi, who previously compared Putin to a younger brother, remarked, “I haven’t even understood why Russian troops spread across Ukraine when, in my opinion, they should have simply remained around Kyiv.”
Berlusconi issued a statement on Friday claiming that his beliefs had been “oversimplified” in response to significant criticism from his detractors.
The opinion of (Forza Italia) is clear: the aggression against Ukraine is unjustified and unacceptable. We will remain committed to the EU and NATO, he declared.
Paris and Berlin, foundations of EU integration, reacted tepidly to Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party’s Sunday victory, although right-leaning Warsaw and Budapest were effusive in their greetings.
Silvio Berlusconi has infuriated many by asserting that Vladimir Putin was ‘forced’ to invade Ukraine.
The Italian leader and former prime minister is a longtime ally of Putin, and his remarks are likely to cause concern among Western allies (pictured in 2015)
The Hungarian government stated, “We’ve never had a greater need for friends with a shared vision and attitude to Europe,” while Poland praised Meloni’s “excellent triumph.”
‘Hungary and Poland are ecstatic about this election,’ said Yordan Bozhilov, director of the Sofia Security Forum in Bulgaria. ‘It reduces the pressure on their own nations in the EU, and it paves the way for a more united front,’ he added.
The Italian election follows closely on the heals of a Swedish election in which the far right also gained support.
With the far right in power in one of the EU’s largest and founding members, however, Hungary and Poland’s confrontations with Brussels over rule-of-law concerns could be significantly less isolated.
In addition, Rome, Budapest, and Warsaw are now aligned on social issues, espousing anti-Islam, anti-abortion, and anti-LGBT stances.
Together, we will beat the cynical and spoiled Eurocrats who are ruining the European Union, violating treaties, destroying our culture, and pushing the LGBT agenda! On Monday, Poland’s deputy agriculture minister Janusz Kowalski tweeted his congratulations to Meloni.
Meloni shares the vision of her possible allies for a Christian, white, sovereign Europe.
“Hungary and Poland are countries that want to reform the EU from the inside, and they make no secret of it. Tara Varma, director of the Paris office of the European Council on Foreign Relations, stated that attempts will be made to establish an axis between Rome, Budapest, and Warsaw.
In recent years, however, the demands of such parties have shifted away from a complete exit from the EU, ‘given the unequivocal cautionary tale that Brexit has become,’ she noted.
In Brussels, the axes may become “spoilers, the sand in the gears.”
Varma stated, “One stride ahead, two steps back, they may block the EU from advancing while continuing to benefit from common money.”
Today, Russian shelling has turned a Ukrainian freight railroad station in Kharkiv to rubble.
A values-based front might yet fail in the face of the dominant worry of the day, the war in Ukraine and EU relations with Russia.
Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, is opposed to Meloni’s and Warsaw’s statements of support for Ukraine and EU sanctions on Russia for its invasion of its neighbor.
Varma anticipated that Meloni will eventually have to choose between Poland and Hungary.
The head of the Brothers of Italy is not anticipated to accommodate the positions of her junior coalition members.
“As far as we are aware, Meloni supports the sanctions against Russia, and Brothers of Italy is closer to Poland’s PiS than Hungary’s Fidesz,” said Hungarian analyst Patrik Szicherle.
Meloni has’sent the appropriate messages on Ukraine,’ according to Martin Quencez of the German Marshall Fund, who also emphasized Italy’s vital relationship with the United States as a dependable NATO ally.
Professor of Italian culture at the Sciences Po university in Paris, Paolo Modugno, stated that if she is elected prime minister, she will have every reason to maintain good relations with Brussels, rather than engage in a pitched war.
Meloni is well aware of the issues of the Italian populace, their fear of inflation, and the state of the economy. He continued, ‘It is more important for her to manage the crisis than to take ideological risks.’
According to analysts, the choice of the future government’s senior ministers, particularly in the finance and foreign ministries, will plainly indicate how Meloni intends to position herself in Europe.
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