Once Wary, Biden to Host Italy’s Meloni at the White House
That was not always a given. Ms. Meloni’s party, Brothers of Italy, traces its roots to the neo-fascist political factions that emerged after World War II. In forming a coalition government after last September’s elections, Ms. Meloni became the first far-right nationalist to lead Italy since Benito Mussolini. To Mr. Biden’s chagrin, she seemed to be an Italian version of former President Donald J. Trump, having addressed the Conservative Political Action Conference in the United States, a group broadly supportive of Mr. Trump.
Like the former president, Ms. Meloni came to office with a long record of skepticism of Western alliances. She once wanted to get rid of the common euro currency. Tough on migration, L.G.B.T.Q. rights and “woke ideology,” she was seen as more aligned with Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary than her counterparts in Germany and France. And while she personally took a hard line on Russia, her junior coalition partners, Matteo Salvini and Silvio Berlusconi, were friendlier toward Moscow.
But Ms. Meloni has shown that she is in charge when it comes to Ukraine. In a speech in March, she said, “The Ukrainian people are defending the values of freedom and democracy on which our civilization is based and the very foundations of international law.” Mr. Berlusconi, who was once so close to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia that they would drink together, go skiing together and attend extreme fighting competitions together, died last month.
To Washington’s delight, Ms. Meloni has been drawing away from China. She called it a “big mistake” for Italy to have joined China’s Belt and Road initiative, an international infrastructure cooperative that has been a primary means for Beijing to assert influence across the globe. Italy, which takes over next year as chair of the Group of 7, was the only member of the group to participate in China’s initiative, but Ms. Meloni appears poised to withdraw.
Valbona Zeneli, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Europe Center, said Western leaders misjudged Ms. Meloni after her election.
Source: The New York Times
