by Andrea Pinto
Italy takes its steps in foreign policy, trying to weave a web of strategic alliances that have a vision and that cover a medium-long term space in order to create sustainable structural plans, capable of promoting the growth of the national economy, in the European context and more generally in the wider Mediterranean. From this need the so-called Treaty of the Quirinale with France, signed on 26 November 2021 and entered into force on 1 January 2023 and the signing which took place yesterday, during the Italy-Germany intergovernmental summit, of the German-Italian action plan for strategic cooperation.
Scholz was optimistic about the Lufthansa-Ita issue, for which there will be a notification to the European Commission next week. Meloni is satisfied with the German position on the issue of migrants since the Italian agreement with Albania is also observed very carefully by Germany.
The document signed in Berlin and which committed him sherpa of the two countries for two years, contains the guidelines to address the main themes of bilateral cooperation and the European and international agendas in the sectors such as economy, innovation and social cohesion, climate, energy and environment, foreign and defense policy, European agenda and migration, contacts between civil societies and culture.
Present in their respective delegations, in addition to the two heads of government, were the Foreign Ministers Antonio Tajani and Annalena Baerbock; of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi and Nancy Faeser; of Business and Made in Italy Adolfo Urso and the holder of the German Ministry of Economy and Environment Robert Habeck; of Finance Giancarlo Giorgetti and Christian Lindner; of Defence, Guido Crosetto and Boris Pistorius; of Labour, Maria Elvira Calderone and Hubertus Heil; and Research, Anna Maria Bernini and Bettina Stark-Watzinger.
After the plenary session and on the sidelines of the bilateral meetings, the prime minister Giorgia Meloni and the chancellor Olaf Scholz they held a joint press conference.
“An agreement that is also excellent news for Europe is the first that represents a change of pace in our relations”, Meloni said. Scholz wanted to highlight, however, the importance of energy collaboration, in particular for supply through the project pipeline for hydrogen in the Alps.
During the day, the two heads of state also participated in the virtual summit of the G20 countries.
The joint position expressed on the subject of is very interesting foreign policy. On the conflict in Middle East Italy and Germany agree on the firm condemnation of Hamas, reiterating that Israel has the right to self-defense. The two European leaders argue that the humanitarian pauses to guarantee aid to the civilian population of Gaza are important.
OnUkraine, Meloni and Scholz reiterated full support for Kiev, underlining that Russian President Vladimir Putin (present remotely at the G20 summit) could end the war by withdrawing his troops. On the European Stability and Growth Pact, Scholz and Meloni agree on the need to find a meeting point, despite the different budgetary needs of their respective countries. In this regard Meloni said:
“Steps are being made day after day in a negotiation that is not easy, we start from different needs, but clarity on one's needs also helps to seek synthetic solutions. The Italian position does not require a cheerful budget policy, which we have not done and are not doing in Italy, we are a serious nation and a serious government. We have a problem of investment protection, which also concerns strategic choices that the EU has made such as the green and digital transition, the Next Generation EU, Defence. In our opinion, it is important that the new budget rules take into account what nations are doing to encourage those transitions and strategic choices, within the framework of a budget policy that must be serious. Germany's position refers above all to the issue of debt repayment, and we are trying to find the best point for a pact which, however, must be possible to respect. It serves us but it serves Europe as a whole."
Scholz was optimistic about the Lufthansa-Ita issue, for which there will be a notification to the European Commission next week. Meloni is satisfied with the German position on the issue of migrants since the Italian agreement with Albania is also observed very carefully by Germany.
Subscribe to our newsletter!