Meloni on the Quirinale: ‘We can overcome the taboo of a president who isn’t from the centre-left’

“I am not anti-American today, nor did I kneel yesterday. I am someone who believes that the West is stronger when united, who believes that Italia is stronger within a united West, and I have worked – and continue to work – towards this.” Appearing as a guest on Nicola Porro’s programme “10 minuti” on Retequattro, Giorgia Meloni revisits her relationship with Donald Trump following the tycoon’s latest attacks in the wake of the G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains. But she also spoke about domestic politics. And for the first time, she addressed the issue of the next occupant of the Quirinale following Sergio Mattarella: “It is not out of the question that this other great taboo – that of having a President of the Republic who is not from the centre-left – might also be overcome.”

“Strong relationships are also built on frankness,” the Prime Minister emphasises with regard to relations with the US President, “and I am a frank person. I was a frank person yesterday, I am a frank person today, and I am certainly not one to let anyone treat me with disrespect, but my view on what is necessary for Italia has not changed.” Meloni also describes the NATO Secretary-General, Mark Rutte, as ‘very vague’: the figure of 500 flights departing from Italia (cited as evidence of massive support for Operation Epic Fury against Iran) “I understand that this strikes many as significant, but it is slightly lower than the corresponding figure for the same period in all previous years”. As if to say: a storm in a teacup.

But it is on the domestic front that she delivers her clearest messages. First and foremost, regarding General Roberto Vannacci, who continues to rise in the polls: ‘I don’t think there’s much difference between him and the other opposition parties: they vote like the left, they speak out against us all day long. I see no difference; I take note of that.” “It’s hard to build anything with someone who clearly just wants to destroy,” the Prime Minister emphasises. However, she confirms that there is always a glimmer of hope for a possible alliance in her words: difficult, but not impossible. Not least because, when asked about remigration – a key policy of Futuro Nazionale – Meloni replies: “What is remigration? As I understand it, it is assisted voluntary repatriation. We’re already doing it. It means I come to an agreement with these migrants to send them back home, because it’s voluntary. The Italia state does it, the European Union does it, the UNHCR does it: everyone does it.”

Meloni then goes on to emphasise the reform of the electoral law, which she continues to defend: ‘Quite simply, it does not favour anyone, but it favours Italians, in the sense that Italians choose who wins, and the proposal does not help anyone in this respect; rather, whoever wins – with a clear mandate, such as the appointment of the Prime Minister, for example – has the numbers to govern.’

From there, one’s gaze turns towards the Colle. If the next Parliament were to elect a President of the Republic who is not from the left, ‘it would be a terrible prospect,’ the Prime Minister emphasises, ‘for a certain establishment. ‘However, it was thought that nothing could change, yet the things that could change have changed: so, given that everything has changed, no one has said that this cannot change too, that this other great taboo – having a President of the Republic who is not from the centre-left – cannot be overcome either.’