First time on Fox – A close friend of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told Fox News Digital that criticism of her for abandoning policies on illegal immigration and other issues is unfounded.
“Giorgia Meloni hasn’t changed, but Europe has,” Italian Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs Edmundo Cirielli told Fox News Digital. Cirielli is the co-founder and national coordinator of Meloni’s political party, Fratelli d’Italia.
Italy said it was urging the European Union president to follow a strong conservative stance.
Biden furious over Meloni’s shift from anti-globalist to pro-European: “I won’t vote for her anymore”
Fratelli d’Italia leader Giorgia Meloni gives a speech in Rome on September 22, 2022 at the conclusion of the campaign for the Italian general elections on September 25, 2022. (Getty Images)
He said Ursula von der Leyen’s Europe is paying close attention to Italy’s policies and is “listening to Italy’s reasons”, adding that “Italy always wants European countries to become stronger”. “We are leading the rest of the European Union in this respect.” Ms. von der Leyen herself has joined her in her actions against illegal immigration. They have already intervened in Egypt and Tunisia. We will soon intervene in Libya as well. ”
He added: “Among other things, there will be European elections in a few months, and Giorgia Meloni’s Conservative Party, Giorgia Meloni’s European Conservative Party, will give this Europe a new direction. And the European Parliament itself, So is the European Parliament itself.” The People’s Party itself will have to take into account the problems that exist today and that Giorgia Meloni pointed out during her campaign. ”
Migrants from a migrant housing center on the Italian island of Lampedusa are escorted by security officials as they prepare to board the ship Galaxy bound for the Sicilian town of Porto Empedocre on September 14, 2023. The island has struggled to cope with a surge in migrant boats from North Africa, which has reached 7,000 people, the entire local population. (Photo by ALESSANDRO SERRANO/AFP via Getty Images)
Italy’s birth rate will decline for the 15th consecutive year in 2023, hitting an all-time low. The number of births in Italy in 2023 will be 379,000, a decrease of 3.6% from 2022.
Mr Cirielli said the issue concerned not only Italy but all of Western Europe. Italy has earmarked about 1 billion euros (about $1.1 billion) in its 2024 budget for several measures aimed at addressing Italy’s population crisis.
“We are implementing a series of policies aimed at supporting births, fertility rates and young couples on both an economic and financial level. This is clearly also a social phenomenon. We need to change the way we think and It’s about understanding that life is an opportunity and an opportunity.”It’s good for everyone,” the Deputy Foreign Minister said.
In this image taken from a video released by the Italian Coast Guard on Thursday, April 11, 2024, a boat carrying migrants approaches a rescue operation off the coast of the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa. The Italian Coast Guard rescued 22 people and recovered nine bodies after a smuggler’s boat capsized in a storm about 30 miles south of Lampedusa on Thursday, April 10, 2024. (Photo: Italian Coast Guard)
The journey from North Africa to Italy has become one of the busiest migration routes, with data showing a 50% increase in migrant arrivals in 2023 compared to the previous year.
Last week, Cirielli accompanied Prime Minister Meloni on his fourth visit to Tunisia in a year, where he signed a new agreement as part of Italy’s Mattei plan for Africa.
Italy’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Edmundo Cirielli (left) signs the agreement with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Tunisian President Kais Said (centre right). (Photo: Gerardo Antelmo/Office of Deputy Minister Edmondo Silieri.) (Gerardo Antelmo/Office of Undersecretary Edmundo Cirielli)
“We are faced with an epoch-making fact that is not just relevant to Italy,” Cirielli said.
More than 63,000 migrants have died or gone missing since 2014, UN agency reports
The Matei plan aims to make Italy an energy hub for transporting natural gas supplies from Africa to the rest of Europe, while addressing the development of education and training, agriculture, health, water and energy.
“We are intervening in agreements with North African countries to prevent their departure from these shores, first of all, but above all we are trying to come to the place of origin of the migrants. The real problem is not immigration itself, but rather the crime behind migrant trafficking, which is creating a new slave trade. This is because it is an organization. ”
He added: “This globalization has become so powerful at the financial level that it is exploiting this trafficking to destabilize Africa, laundering the money from international trafficking and funneling it into drugs and weapons. They also often serve as criminal organizations supporting African causes.” terrorist organization. ”
Under Italy’s rotating control, G7 foreign ministers met on the Italian resort island of Capri last week to call for new sanctions on Iran over its attacks on Israel.
“Italy condemns Iran’s actions in its G7 Presidency and is well aware of Iran’s destabilizing actions in the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East, but equally we see no need for escalation. It’s true…On the other hand, the G7 countries all agree that the bombing of the consulate, which is Israel’s diplomatic headquarters, was a dangerous act, and that Iran’s response was a response, and compared to the incident itself, it was a balanced and moderate response. He pointed out.
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, European Union Foreign Policy Director Josep Borrell, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, German Foreign Minister Annalena Verbock, Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly, French Foreign Minister Stephane Séjourne, Italian Foreign Minister 2024 Antonio Tajani speaks on the second day of the G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Capri, Italy, on April 18. (Reuters/Remo Casili/Pool)
“It is understood that the Iranian government does not want escalation, and therefore everyone in the G7 follows the lead of Mr. Biden and Mr. Giorgia Meloni, and in particular of Israel’s close neighbors who are ready to support it,” Cirieri said. accepts the invitation,” he added. Israel has a right to defend itself and an Israeli right to exist, but we must continue to de-escalate tensions and prevent this issue in Gaza from erupting into a regional war. ”
In December, Italy withdrew from China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which aims to boost infrastructure spending on China’s roads and sea routes and rebuild the Silk Road linking China to Asia and Europe.
Cirieri said the withdrawal move does not disrupt relations between Italy and China and is in the best interest of Italian trade.
“It was a mistake of the Conte government and the centre-left government before we entered into a political agreement, because this seemed to contradict the North Atlantic Treaty and our alliance with the European Union… We ended this agreement at its due date.” As France and Germany know, they are establishing a new economic and social partnership. Therefore, rather than a break in relations, a different adjustment based on the ancient, thousand-year-old relationship is taking place almost exclusively with the Italians. The Chinese people absolutely base themselves on mutually beneficial trade and good dialogue. ”
“The opposition has argued that it is not wrong to have diplomatic and economic relations with China, but that it is wrong to have political relations that form the basis of the agreements that China has made to the world,” he said. I concluded.
