Brussels \u2013 The agreement on Russian diesel announced by Donald Trump is \u201ca very risky move,\u201d which could legitimise Moscow, provide new resources to fund the war in Ukraine and undermine the West\u2019s sanctions strategy. Ahead of the European Council meeting on 15 and 16 October, Giorgia Meloni briefed Parliament on Italy\u2019s position at the summit, which is set to tackle an agenda ranging from economic competitiveness to the war, from security to migration, and the Union\u2019s future budget. According to the Prime Minister, Russian President Vladimir Putin is constantly \u201cprovoking\u201d Europe by threatening attacks to \u201cdivert attention\u201d from the course of the conflict on the ground and is \u201cseeking a new enemy, which could be Europe.\u201d Rome\u2019s strategy is not to give Putin \u201cthis advantage\u201d and to \u201cremain calm, particularly at this time.\u201d <\/p>\n
The rise in fuel prices is \u201cprimarily linked to the war in Iran and not to the conflict in Ukraine,\u201d explains the Prime Minister. For this reason, the benefits of the agreement announced by Trump remain<\/strong> \u201cdubious,<\/strong>\u201d while the political and economic risks are clear<\/strong>. \u201cLegitimisation for Moscow while its bombs continue to fall on Ukrainian cities, new revenue to fund the war, and an implicit weakening of the leverage provided by sanctions are factors we cannot ignore,\u201d states Meloni, emphasising how such a decision would contradict the efforts made so far by Western states, including the United States, to bring Putin to the negotiating table. This is also because, as she went on to explain in her reply to the Chamber of Deputies, Russian gas<\/strong> \u201cdoes not cost Italians less<\/strong>; it costs the Russians less, which is a different matter.\u201d The price of gas in Europe is set by the Dutch TTF exchange and, once it arrives, it is sold at a single price. Even in the years when Italy imported the most Russian gas, the Russian component accounted for less than 40 per cent of the total, meaning that the price was predominantly set by other suppliers. \u201cSo a resumption of Russian gas imports would not lead to a reduction in price, at least not for several years,\u201d Meloni points out. <\/p>\n For the Prime Minister, energy costs represent the main obstacle to the competitiveness of the European economy<\/strong>. The Prime Minister reiterates that EU businesses cannot be expected to compete with major global players if they continue to face energy costs that are structurally higher than those of their competitors. \u201cDecarbonisation cannot mean deindustrialisation,<\/strong>\u201d she states, highlighting the need to reconcile the environmental transition with the protection of Europe\u2019s manufacturing base, particularly at a time marked by geopolitical instability and supply chain tensions. The response, according to the Prime Minister, must be \u201ccoordinated and swift.\u201d<\/strong> The agreement reached within the G7, which provided for the release of a significant quantity of fuel onto the markets, is a step in this direction. The initiative, Meloni explains, also aims to prevent the risk of a freeze on US exports, which would have serious consequences for European economies. <\/p>\n On the domestic front, the government is also continuing its discussions with the European Commission on the “Utility bills” decree. The aim is to find a solution compatible with EU rules that will reduce the impact of gas-fired generation costs on the overall price of electricity. \u201cNot another line in the conclusions of a summit, but a lower energy bill for a household, one lower cost for a business,\u201d emphasises the Prime Minister, pointing to the tangible effects on households and the business sector as the criterion by which to assess the results of the European negotiations. <\/p>\n Meloni assures us that Italy\u2019s position on the war in Ukraine remains unchanged. Support for Kyiv, concern for the civilian population, pressure on Moscow and Euro-Atlantic unity remain the cornerstones of the government\u2019s approach. \u201cNo one will convince me that the surrender of those defending their freedom can be called peace,<\/strong>\u201d states the Prime Minister, emphasising the need to pursue a solution that goes beyond merely halting the fighting, but guarantees long-term stability. \u201cThe peace we want, and which we are working to build \u2013 even at the cost of losing some public support \u2013 is a just peace, because only a just peace can last; only a just peace safeguards Europe and our interests.\u201d <\/p>\n Another issue concerns security of supply and Europe\u2019s dependence on critical raw materials. Lithium, cobalt, graphite, and rare earths are essential for the energy transition, digital development, and defence, but Europe continues to import them largely from abroad, often from a single country. \u201cIf we do not tackle this issue, we risk moving from one dependency only to fall into another,\u201d warns Meloni. It is against this backdrop that Italy has put itself forward to host one of Europe\u2019s first strategic storage sites for these resources in Porto Marghera. The government envisages that the project could become a pilot scheme at EU level, helping to diversify supplies and strengthen the Union\u2019s strategic autonomy. <\/p>\n Security will be another key topic at the Brussels summit. Meloni draws attention to hybrid threats \u2013 phenomena that do not necessarily manifest themselves through an open military conflict, but which can target infrastructure, institutions, and public opinion. From drones flying over airports and military bases to damage to undersea cables in the Baltic, and from cyber-attacks against hospitals, ports, and public administrations to sabotage of railway networks, the picture painted by the Prime Minister is one of European security exposed to multiple and interconnected risks. Added to these are disinformation campaigns, attempts to influence elections and the exploitation of migration flows as tools of political pressure. \u201cHybrid warfare is not declared and has no front line,<\/strong>\u201d observes Meloni, identifying the protection of critical infrastructure as one of the priorities that Italy will bring to the European table. The response<\/strong>, she insists, cannot be entrusted solely to individual states<\/strong>, but requires a common strategy and greater capacity for prevention and defence. <\/p>\n On the forthcoming Multiannual Financial Framework<\/strong>, the Italian government is taking a firm negotiating stance: Italy will not sign an agreement simply to meet a deadline<\/strong>, but intends to secure a budget that meets the needs of both the country and the Union. The new strategic priorities, from defence to security, must be allocated adequate resources without compromising the traditional policies that form one of the pillars of European integration. \u201cItaly will not accept a budget that scales back the Common Agricultural Policy, fisheries, and cohesion,\u201d states Meloni. Agriculture and fisheries, she points out, are not merely about supporting productive sectors, but also about food security, which is considered an essential component of European strategic autonomy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" While Trump\u2019s deal on Russian diesel is being labelled as risky<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7309,"featured_media":468005,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard","override":[{"template":"1","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","show_comment_section":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0","subtitle":""},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[30800,25681],"tags":[28413,25806,33121,26002,30510,25803,29164,33394,29394],"class_list":["post-468014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy","category-politics","tag-expensive-energy","tag-gas-and-2","tag-gasolio","tag-meloni-and","tag-answer-en","tag-russia-in-2","tag-trump-en","tag-ue","tag-vertice-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7309"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=468014"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468014\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":468015,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468014\/revisions\/468015"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/468005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=468014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=468014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=468014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}