Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will receive this Thursday in Rome NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, with whom she will reaffirm her government’s commitment to the West after her election victory on September 25.
As reported in a statement by the General Secretariat of the Atlantic Alliance, Stoltenberg expects to meet with Meloni at Palazzo Chigi, to be followed later by a meeting with the Italian Minister of Defense, Guido Crossetto.
This is the first meeting between Stoltenberg and the far-right leader, who since the election campaign has been reaffirming her commitment to the European Union and NATO, although colleagues in her government coalition have criticized the sanctions against Moscow.
In particular, Matteo Salvini’s League has on more than one occasion expressed its disagreement with the measures carried out by the West to penalize Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
Moreover, the former Prime Minister and leader of Forza Italia, Silvio Berlusconi, has been a friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin for years.
So far, Meloni has tried to camouflage these known pro-Russian postulates among some of his associates, such as the new president of the Chamber of Deputies, Lorenzo Fontana, by reiterating his commitment to Western values to the various leaders with whom he meets.
