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POLITICS

Rome and Beijing want to ‘deepen’ dialogue: Italian PM’s office

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Chinese Premier Li Qiang, meeting for the first time Saturday, agreed to "consolidate and deepen" dialogue between Rome and Beijing, Meloni's office said.

Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (C,L) is greeted upon her arrival at the airport on the eve of two-day G20 summit in New Delhi
Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (C,L) is greeted upon her arrival at the airport on the eve of two-day G20 summit in New Delhi on September 8, 2023. She met Chinese Premier Li Qiang on the sidelines of the summit on Saturday. Photo: PIB / AFP

The meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in New Delhi came amid rising speculation that Italy is preparing to withdraw from or rethink a controversial investment deal with China.

The European Union is part of a broad alliance which unveiled ambitious plans at the G20 to create a modern-day Spice Route linking Europe, the Middle East and India, which signatories hope will offer a counterbalance to lavish Chinese infrastructure spending.

Debt-ridden Italy in 2019 became the only one of the group of leading developed democracies to sign up to China’s trillion-dollar investment scheme.

The agreement automatically renews in March 2024 unless Italy opts out by the end of this year.

Critics say the Belt and Road plan is a Trojan horse to increase China’s influence and Meloni is under pressure to exit, but hopes to do so without inflaming tensions.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who travelled to Beijing earlier this month, said the Belt and Road initiative “has not produced the results we were hoping for”.

Meloni is tipped to travel to Beijing for a state visit in the next couple of months, and some analysts expect her to pull the plug on the deal then, while possibly boosting other existing Italy-China accords at the same time.

The meeting with Li Saturday “confirmed the common intention to consolidate and deepen the dialogue between Rome and Beijing on the main bilateral and international issues,” Meloni’s office said in a statement.

Next year marks the 20th anniversary of a global strategic partnership between the two countries which “will constitute the beacon for the advancement of friendship and collaboration,” it said.

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EU

Italy’s Meloni hopes EU ‘understands message’ from voters

Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Saturday she hoped the European Union would understand the "message" sent by voters in last weekend's elections, after far-right parties such as hers made gains.

Italy's Meloni hopes EU 'understands message' from voters

Meloni, head of the post-fascist Brothers of Italy party, which performed particularly well in the vote, urged the EU to “understand the message that has come from European citizens”.

“Because if we want to draw lessons from the vote that everything was fine, I fear it would be a slightly distorted reading,” she told a press conference at the end of a G7 summit in Puglia.

“European citizens are calling for pragmatism, they are calling for an approach that is much less ideological on several major issues,” she said.

Meloni’s right-wing government coalition has vehemently opposed the European Green Deal and wants a harder stance on migration.

“Citizens vote for a reason. It seems to me that a message has arrived, and it has arrived clearly,” she said.

EU leaders will meet in Brussels on Monday to negotiate the top jobs, including whether European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen will get a second term.

Von der Leyen’s centre-right European People’s Party strengthened its grip with the vote, but her reconfirmation is not yet in the bag.

The 65-year-old conservative was in Puglia for the G7 and likely used the summit to put her case to the leaders of France, Germany and Italy.

But Meloni refused to be drawn on whom she is backing.

“We will have a meeting on Monday, we’ll see,” she told journalists.

“We will also see what the evaluations will be on the other top roles,” she said.

Italian political watchers say Meloni is expected to back von der Leyen, but is unlikely to confirm that openly until Rome locks in a deal on commissioner jobs.

“What interests me is that… Italy is recognised for the role it deserves,” she said.

“I will then make my assessments.”

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani indicated that it was unlikely any decision would be made before the French elections on June 30 and July 7.

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