Meloni returns to the stage, first time as premier at the Rimini Meeting: between wars and tariffs

Giorgia Meloni is a guest today at the Rimini Meeting. It is her first 'public outing' after the summer break, which the Fdi leader spent between the Greek islands and the olive groves of Puglia, with a mission to Washington for talks on Ukraine with Donald Trump and European leaders in between. For the premier, this is the first time at the Meeting in the role of head of government. The last time she took part was in the summer of 2022, during the electoral campaign for the political elections, in a panel with the other leaders of the centre-right and centre-left: at that time the secretary of the PD was Enrico Letta, Meloni's main challenger in the race that brought the centre-right to government.

The Prime Minister's speech is scheduled at 12 noon, introduced by Meeting Foundation president Bernhard Scholz. Her speech is expected to include references to the difficult international situation - Ukraine, Gaza, tariffs and relations with the United States - as well as internal dossiers, in particular the measures of the next manoeuvre on the middle class and families, topics particularly dear to the Rimini audience.

Today will also be Matteo Salvini's day. The Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the League will speak at 5.30 p.m. on infrastructures and the 'deserts' of modernity, together with Alfredo Maria Becchetti, president of Infratel, and Stefano Antonio Donnarumma, CEO and general manager of the FS Group, in a panel moderated by the director of the Meeting Foundation, Emmanuele Forlani. The Minister of Transport has been the protagonist of some of the most eventful passages of the political summer, from the polemic with Emmanuel Macron - which resulted in a mini-diplomatic crisis - to the spat with Antonio Tajani on the banking dossier.

On the table of the majority, however, there are not only the topics of the Meeting. Thorny issues remain open: from the vaccines case, with the revocation of the Nitag Commission by Health Minister Orazio Schillaci after the controversy over the presence of doctors considered critical of immunisations - a decision not agreed with Palazzo Chigi and which allegedly irritated the Prime Minister - to the complicated puzzle of the regional elections. After the investiture of the mayor of Pistoia Alessandro Tomasi as candidate for governor in Tuscany, several pieces are still missing. The most delicate game is that of Veneto. Despite some openings from Fdi on the hypothesis of a leghist candidate, the choice remains frozen pending a summit of the centre-right leaders. Campania and Puglia also remain to be defined: in Campania among the most accredited names are those of Edmondo Cirielli and Giosy Romano, while in Puglia Forza Italia is pushing for MP Mauro D'Attis.