Thursday, the first official bilateral meeting of Giorgia Meloni with American president Donald Trump arrives at a crucial moment. Trump threatening a trade war against the EU, his visit could be essential to help Italy and Europe avoid climbing tensions.
Trump's decision to suspend some of the measures provided for tone – but can Meloni really bring a significant result to the house?
According to Raffaele Marchetti, professor of international relations at the University of Luis in Rome “the possibility of obtaining concessions is limited”. He said it could “be a problem” because “Europeans will require comments on the visit”.
According to Marchetti, subjects on the agenda include the economy, the industrial sector and the defense.
“Meloni will offer an increase in defense expenses, a decision that will benefit American factories,” said Marchetti in Euronews.
“This could conflict with EU's defense plans, which should rather focus on the protection of European defense industry.”
Meloni, which supports the “zero-zero” tariff agreement by the EU on industrial goods with the United States, is likely to highlight the force of bilateral relations between Italy and the United States and close economic links between the two-in particular because the United States is the largest non-not commercial market in the EU EU.
But, as Marchetti points out, Meloni's position on the United States also reflects the balance of internal energy within the Italian coalition government.
In an effort to strengthen her leadership, she seems to find a balance between the positions of the two ministers' sub-premises: on the one hand, Matteo Salvini, who focuses more on the safeguard of Italian interests, and, on the other, Antonio Tajani, with his pro-European position.
Antonio Giordano, deputy of the brothers of Italy and secretary general of the ECR, told Euronews: “A real leader is not the one who improvises, but the one who listens to all their partners and uses all the tools available to promote the exchange of opinions and benefit from what each partner brings to the table”.
“Generally, Italian and European interests line up,” explains Giordano, “although Europe is slightly more complex, but it trusts Giorgia Meloni.”
