Giorgia Meloni rejects fascism and embraces EU in
first speech
New prime minister says Mussolini’s racial laws were
the worst moment in Italian history.
BY HANNAH
ROBERTS
OCTOBER 25,
2022 5:02 PM
https://www.politico.eu/article/italy-prime-minister-giorgia-meloni-fascism-eu-first-speech/
ROME —
Italy’s new leader Giorgia Meloni used her maiden speech to parliament to
denounce fascism, and to assure allies of Italy’s commitment to the European
Union.
Meloni was
sworn in as Italy’s prime minister on Saturday after a right-wing coalition led
by her Brothers of Italy party took 44 percent of the vote in elections last
month. Meloni came under pressure in the campaign to distance her party from
its origins in a group which was formed by former fascists after the war.
On Tuesday,
she issued her strongest condemnation of fascism so far, saying that
Mussolini’s racial laws in 1938, which led to the deportation of thousands of
Jewish people to concentration camps, were “the worst moment in Italian
history.” She said she “had never sympathized with anti-democratic regimes,
including fascism” and would fight “every kind of racism, anti-Semitism and
discrimination.”
Meloni used
the speech to set out her vision of Italy’s relationship with Europe, promising
allies that her government would remain within the European institutions,
“because that is the place that Italy will make its voice heard loudly.”
She said
that her right-wing coalition did not want “to slow down or sabotage European
integration but to steer it to be more efficient in its response to crises …
and to be closer to people and businesses.”
But she
warned that Europe should not be “an elite club with first or second division
members … or a company controlled by a board of directors who have to keep the
books in order,” adding, “Those who raise questions are not enemies or heretics
but pragmatists who are not afraid to say when something is not working,” she
said.
Meloni said
that she wanted to work with Europe to adapt Italy’s €200 billion post-pandemic
economic recovery plan to reflect the changed circumstances of an energy crisis
and increased costs of raw materials. She hinted that Italy could push for
compensation or European shared debt to offset the cost of energy aid, as her
allies in the League have proposed, saying: “The cost of the international crisis
should be shared fairly.”
Helping
families and businesses with the high cost of energy was a massive financial
commitment and would delay other measures that the government wanted to
introduce, she warned.
But she
pledged that the heavy burden of higher energy costs would not alter Italy’s
position as “a loyal partner of NATO and Ukraine.”
“Those who
believe it is possible to barter Ukraine’s freedom for our peace of mind are
wrong. Giving in to Putin’s blackmail on energy … would pave the way for further
blackmail, and even higher energy prices,” she said.
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário