Tusk: “No EU without Italy and no decision without PM Meloni.” Leaders arrive at European Council

Brussels – Leaders of the Twenty-Seven are beginning to arrive at the European Council venue, and the mood seems to be one of trying to de-escalate tensions over the hottest issue: nominations for top posts.

Among the first to enter the Justus Lipsius building is Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who, asked by journalists, says he has “not yet spoken with Meloni” but adds, “I think today we will have the opportunity.” However, the EPP member of the table that indicated the names for the three “top jobs” is keen to stress that “one thing must be clear: no one respects Premier Meloni and Italy more than I do.” However, he explains, “Sometimes you need a platform to make decisions smoother, and we have reached a common position among the major forces in the European Parliament. Our negotiations in the political platform have served to facilitate dialogue,” but, he emphasizes, “the decision is Meloni’s and the other leaders’.”

Finally, according to Tusk, “there is no EU without Italy and no decision without PM Meloni; it is clear.”

Prime Minister Meloni also arrived at the European Council but avoided meeting with reporters.

The Greek premier, also an EPP negotiator, Kyriacos Mitsotakis, said, “The three European families discussed and made a proposal, which reflects the majority of the Council members. It is not an exclusive process, and we never intended to exclude or offend anyone.” Regarding the Italian premier, he also tried to calm things down: ‘I have respect for Meloni,’ he said, ‘Italy is a very important country in the EU, and we will respond to her concerns.”

Luc Frieden, the popular premier of Luxembourg, seems a little more rigid: ‘We have to follow the democratic rules; we have to differentiate between the leaders of countries and the leaders of political groups. We will listen to Meloni as Italy’s premier,” he explains, ‘but then we will decide within the European Council according to the democratic rules’.

The Dutch liberal Mark Rutte, who has just been appointed as the next NATO secretary general, expects a debate, but—he acknowledges—”The three political families have an agreement, we have to see. For Rutte, “no one is excluded from the appointments, but we must ensure that Italy feels well represented in the new European Commission and beyond. ECR has not been involved in the negotiations,” he clarifies, “because many in the majority coalition of Populars, Liberals and Socialists think that conservatives cannot be part of it”.

“There are three political groups that want to work together and have a majority; that’s how democracy works,” warns outgoing Belgian premier Alexander De Croo, according to whom “there are three high-quality names. Democracy is not just about blocking but identifying who wants to work together”. The liberal clarifies that “we will also listen to Meloni, but the commissioners are a competence of the Commission presidency according to the quality of the people presented. We have to make the institutions work, starting from the top.”