MILANO (AP) – Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Tuesday called for “pragmatism” to prevent the EU-US conflict over tariffs from escalating into a full-scale trade war, expressing support for President Donald Trump's efforts in Ukraine.
Speaking to the Italian Senate ahead of this week's EU leaders' meeting, Meloni made her first extensive commentary on Trump's policies that have rocked Europe in two months since he took office.
Meloni hit a diplomatic tone on tariffs and expressed his favor with Trump's move to establish a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine as a possible pathway to end the war in Ukraine. She also ruled out Italian troops to Ukraine and opposed the proposals of security forces by the UK and France. And she pledged to move forward with a controversial, stagnant plan to direct immigrants outside the EU border to veterinarians.
“I support President Donald Trump's efforts in this sense,” she said, adding that the proposed ceasefire agreement is “the first important step in the path that must lead to justice and lasting peace in Ukraine.”
Meloni also ruled out the sending of Italian troops to Ukraine, saying, “That's not an agenda.”
“We believe that the deployment of European military drafted by the UK and France is a very complicated, dangerous and ineffective option,” she said.
Meloni said he hoped that a trade war with the US could be avoided after the EU responded to steel tariffs that involve tariffs on American whiskey and spirits. Italian winemakers, whose exports to the US increased to 2 billion euros last year, are among those responsible for threatening tariffs of up to 200% if EU tariffs take effect on April 1.
“We believe we need to work together specifically and with pragmatism to find a common basis and avoid a trade war that doesn't benefit anyone, not Europe but the United States,” Meloni said. She warned against retaliatory tariffs that “it will become a malicious circle where everyone loses.”
Meloni said Italy is determined to run the Albanian centre. Last year, it was built to screen asylum seekers and said it has received support from other EU governments. The project has stagnated after an Italian court refused to approve a deportation lawsuit introduced to the EU court of Justice.
“We hope that the courts will avoid the risk of undermining repatriation policies not just Italy, but all EU member states,” she said, adding that it “is very undermining Europe's stability.”
