Such diplomatic success has led some to believe that Meloni is not toeing the line, but actually setting the agenda. In a widely seen report in Italy, CNN’s Fareed Zakaria hailed Europe’s “Meloni moment” and compared her position to that played by former German Chancellor Angela Merkel before her. compared to a leading role. When it comes to economic policy, this claim is exaggerated. Although Italy’s economy is growing, it is not exploring new territory. However, comparisons are not without merit. In some areas, Rome is giving instructions to Brussels.
For one, Meloni has spearheaded plans to further outsource the region’s border security to authoritarian North African countries. Last July, she was in Tunisia to announce a deal to curb migration across the Mediterranean. Last month, she did the same in Egypt. On both occasions, she was flanked by Europe’s top official, Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, who in January announced Celebrate the vision. Despite the European Union agreeing new rules for the treatment of migrants when they arrive on the continent, Italy is working to prevent migrants from arriving in the first place.
Meloni is also a thorn in the block’s green transition. She has derided the European Green Deal, a set of environmental laws, as “climate fundamentalism” and she has consistently sought to slow or halt environmental policy. In many cases, Italy is alone or with little support in these efforts. But in February, Meloni became a key figure in a vote against the bloc’s flagship Nature Recovery Act, which aims to repair damaged ecosystems across the continent.
Meloni was clearly joined in his vote by the center-right European People’s Party, the largest party group in Brussels that includes Germany’s Christian Democrats. The group, which already aims to roll back member countries’ efforts to tackle climate change, said the proposal was an attack on farmers who have been protesting across Europe in recent days. The bill was passed with the help of some opposition centre-right parliamentarians who voted in favor of it. But centre-right leaders are hoping to derail the ban on new internal combustion engine cars and have signaled further cooperation.
Opinion polls ahead of June’s elections suggest that centrist to far-right forces are on track to win around 50% of seats in parliament. For many on the far right, this is an opportunity to end the grand coalition of Socialists and Christian Democrats that has historically dominated European politics and create a right-wing coalition to take the top spot in its place. In practice, such cooperation is difficult. Center-right leaders say they will only ally with pro-EU, pro-NATO, pro-Ukrainian and pro-rule of law parties. This would exclude a significant portion of Europe’s far-right parties, at least for now. But it allows Ms. Meloni to be fully accepted.
