A European Council of many chatter and little substance will be the one in which Giorgia Meloni will participate in Brussels. After only two weeks from the extraordinary summit summoned by President Antonio Costa, the leaders of the twenty -seven return to gather in Brussels for a meeting that this time will not only focus on Ukraine and Defense, but also on migrants, economics and competitiveness. Indeed, these last issues should have been the most important of the discussion, but, as often happens, the events have distorted the order of the priorities that were on paper.
Support for Ukraine
With Russia that continues to bomb Ukraine and the prospect of a ceased the 30 -day fire still uncertain, even after Tuesday’s phone call between Vladimir Putin and the President of the United States Donald Trump, the theme of how to continue support for Kiev has returned central.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will not be present in first person this time, but will speak at the summit in video connection and will inform the leaders of the call called “positive” and “Franca” had yesterday with Trump, after having already talked about it both with Costa and with the French president Emmanuel Macron. All this while in London the British premier Keir Starmer today hosts the European military leaders of the “coalition of the willing” to discuss a western -guided peace force.
As in the last meeting, the EU will show its (almost) unit, with Hungary who will also parade this time by the text of the conclusions on the Ukrainian theme, forcing it to limit themselves to publishing a text supported at 26. But even the twenty -six do not seem so compact on the real measures to be taken in support of Kiev. The 40 billion plan for Kiev weapons presented by the high representative, Kaja Kallas, which different capital criticizes that they have not been consulted, while others are worried about the way in which the contribution was calculated that each government should pay for, is made to discuss. A community diplomat spoke of “mess”.
Plan for rearmament
And not to convince everyone is also the white photographer on the defense presented yesterday by the European Commission, even if this will still have the political green light for the moment with the request to proceed in a quick way. Not to convince several countries, including Italy, is the fact that the famous 800 billion in four years that will be mobilized for the rearmament will all come from new debt: both the 650 and should be put on the plate thanks to the flexibility on the stability pact, and the 150 that will come from the Safe tool, loans to subsidized but still loans. And therefore debt.
Conversion of factories for weapons and drones: thousands of jobs in the plan for the EU rearmament
Meloni landed in Brussels yesterday, immediately after setting off the opposition benches with his words on the Ventotene Manifesto. Although the flexibility on the expenses for the defense was among the requests of our country, the idea of spending all this money in arms just creating new debt, with our already proposed increasing to 138 percent of the GDP by 2026, does not make jumps of joy.
In the conclusions of the summit there is no reference to “further financing options”, or the possibility that the EU is to debt on the markets with the ‘Eurobond’ to provide subsidies on the model of the Nextgenerationau model. But the time of the fat cows is finished and of lost subsidies we no longer speak to Brussels, only of loans. The frugali, on the point, have returned to erect an insurmountable wall.
The “willing” of migrants
On the topic of migrants, great decisions are not expected, at most an endorsement of the plan recently presented by the Commission, which opens up to the possibility of expelling irregular migrants in third countries. Italy greeted the proposal with favor, even if it has nothing to do with our pact with Albania, given that we speak of migrants subject to an expulsion order and not those just arrived.
To expel migrants, the EU wants to create centers outside Europe
However, Meloni pushes on the theme and is trying to create his “coalition of willing” who want to support, like her, the hard line and push on repatriations.
Before the twenty -seven meeting, Meloni will copy, together with the premier of the Netherlands, Dick Schoof, and that of Denmark, puts FrederiKsen, the coordination meeting on the theme of migration. The meeting will also take part in the heads of state or government of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, Greece, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Czech Republic, Sweden and Hungary. All countries led by the center -right and which want the hard line.
Competitiveness
Finally, we will talk about competitiveness, also in light of the commission’s plan to try to retain the savings of the Europeans in the blockade and direct them to the real economy. The key issue for leaders is whether they will finally be able to mobilize private capital in the economy, instead of relying exclusively on public funding to serve the interests of Europe.
