🇮🇹 In Italy, a government of national unity has been formed, headed by 73-year-old former ECB President Mario Draghi.

Draghi’s biggest challenge is managing the funds received from the European Union for economic recovery. Priority areas of the new government will be: vaccination, the labour market, economic growth, education, and the environment. Greening and digitalisation are two big topics that the Italian government intends to develop especially diligently (the corresponding new ministerial posts have been introduced).

In general, we can say that hopes for the future reconstruction of Italy are inextricably linked with the European Union and the process of European integration.

Europe has become a rallying point for both the right and the left in the new government, including the Eurosceptics. Both flanks say they want a stronger voice in Europe and European institutions. With the arrival of the Mario Draghi cabinet, the two pillars of Italian foreign policy — Europeanism and Atlanticism — can be expected to receive strong support, writes Valdai Club expert Elena Maslova.

#Italy

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/italy-returns-to-europe/

🇮🇹 Accompanied by enormous expectations at home and throughout Europe, Mario Draghi has become the new prime minister of Italy.

It is a country in search of a vaccine for itself that has lost its antibodies for renewal; for too long it has been hostage to its huge public debt burden and short-term policies.

The arrival of Draghi has upset the alchemy of Roman politics. His attitude baffled everyone already in the days of the consultations for the new government. It is no coincidence that “Super Mario” (as he has been called since the euro rescue launched in 2012, when he famously vowed “Whatever it takes”) is considered “not very Italian”. Also for this reason, he is respected and feared, in Rome as well as outside Italy’s borders. To put it briefly, he is precise and rigorous. During the first talks with the parties, he listened to everyone and spoke very little. He offered no indiscretion, no anticipation, no social networking, leaving nothing to drive Roman politics, which is accustomed to whispers, double entendres, and even more important hints of official declarations. 

In addition to the economy, the new prime minister will control foreign policy, regardless of whether Luigi Di Maio remains in the Foreign Ministry. The prime minister also eliminated the proxy for relations with Europe: the confrontation with Brussels will now be managed without ministerial filters. This is not surprising. Draghi is pro-European in deed even more than in word. He himself is proof that the internal politics of the member countries are largely carried out in Brussels and Frankfurt. He is certainly an Atlantist, not so much because he worked for Goldman Sachs, but as a logical consequence of a historical observation, now reinforced by the economic situation.

#Italy has been firmly in the Western orbit for decades and its aspiration to revive its economy using European funds can only strengthen this alignment. The reason is that the EU itself has no choice with respect to the Atlantic link with the United States, certainly not in the near future and not before Germany really tries to detach from the United States, writes Valdai Club expert Orietta Moscatelli.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/mario-draghi-in-search-of-emergency-moments/

📆 ANNOUNCEMENT: On October 5, at 11:00 Moscow Time (GMT+3), the Valdai Club will host an expert discussion, titled “Rightist Italy: What Should Russia and the World Expect From the New Government?”

The recent parliamentary elections in Italy have led to the victory of a centre-right coalition. Dissatisfaction had grown among the voters of the country with the actions of the previous government, both in the fight against Covid and amid the current economic situation. Among the right-wing coalition, the largest number of votes was obtained by the Brothers of Italy party, which had previously always been on the sidelines and had only a small number of seats in parliament. Its leader Giorgia Meloni, in fact, turned out to be almost the only major politician in the election campaign who had not previously been in the highest positions of power.

A separate issue under discussion is what Italy’s position would be towards Russia. Giorgia Meloni has already made her support for Ukraine clear. At the same time, the coalition includes Silvio Berlusconi and Matteo Salvini, who have a well-established reputation as “friends of Putin” in the EU. However, one should hardly expect that Italy will abandon sanctions against Russia.

❓Will the right-wing forces satisfy the demands of the Italian voters?
❓Will the new government be able to overcome the economic consequences of the pandemic? Will it be able to put an end to the internal political crisis in Italy?
❓How will relations between Russia and Italy change under Meloni’s government?
❓How real is the potential for Italy, under the new government, to take a more active position in mediating and trying to resolve the Ukrainian conflict?

All these questions will be discussed by the participants in the Valdai Club discussion.

👥 Speakers:

🇷🇺 Elena Maslova, Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Europe, Russian Academy of Sciences

🇮🇹 Igor Pelicciari, Professor at the University of Urbino (UNIURB)

🇮🇹 Vittorio Torrembini, Honorary Consul of Italy in Lipetsk, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Association of Italian Entrepreneurs in Russia GIM UNIMPRESA

Moderator:

🚩 Oleg Barabanov, Programme Director, Valdai Discussion Club

Working languages: Russian, English.

ℹ️ Information for the media: In order to get accredited for the event, please fill out the form on our website or call +79269307763.

A link to the live broadcast of the discussion will be posted on all online platforms of the Valdai Club:  on the website, Twitter, VKontakte, Telegram and Zen.

#Norms_and_Values #Italy

@valdai_club

⏰ TODAY at 11:00 Moscow Time (GMT+3), the Valdai Club will host an expert discussion, titled “Rightist Italy: What Should Russia and the World Expect From the New Government?”

❓Will the right-wing forces satisfy the demands of the Italian voters?
❓Will the new government be able to overcome the economic consequences of the pandemic? Will it be able to put an end to the internal political crisis in Italy?
❓How will relations between Russia and Italy change under Meloni’s government?
❓How real is the potential for Italy, under the new government, to take a more active position in mediating and trying to resolve the Ukrainian conflict?

All these questions will be discussed by the participants in the Valdai Club discussion.

A link to the live broadcast of the discussion will be posted on all online platforms of the Valdai Club:  on the website, Twitter, VKontakte, Telegram and Zen.

#Norms_and_Values #Italy

@valdai_club

UPD: The livestream is over. The video of the discussion is available via the same link. Stay tuned!

🎥 LIVE: at 11:00 Moscow Time (GMT+3) we are starting an expert discussion, titled “Rightist Italy: What Should Russia and the World Expect From the New Government?”

https://vk.com/video-214192832_456239033

#Norms_and_Values #Italy

@valdai_club

🇮🇹 The recent parliamentary elections in Italy incited a powerful and controversial response in Europe and in the world as a whole. 

The right-wing coalition, the core of which this time was the Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy) led by Giorgia Meloni, was victorious. Although expected by most opinion polls, it nevertheless became an unpleasant event for the neoliberal mainstream. So bad that a few days before the election, even European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen herself issued a very stern warning to Italian voters: if you don’t vote correctly, then Brussels will have leverage to respond.

Now a lot is expected from the first steps of the victorious right-wing coalition, whether or not they are emphatically associated with hyper-compliance with all mainstream policy frameworks.

Then, as the historical experience of previous right-wing governments in Italy over the past three decades shows, they will not stop being called “fascists”; this has happened periodically before, but the general chorus of discontent will become a little quieter.

Giorgia Meloni is now facing a most direct and clear task: to be holier than the Pope. She simply has no other options, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Oleg Barabanov.

#Norms_and_Values #Italy

@valdai_club

🇮🇹 Weakness of the Italian Political Class: How Will the "Right" at the Head of Italy Behave?

On October 5, the Valdai Club hosted an expert discussion titled “Rightist" Italy: What to Expect from the New Government for Russia and the World?”.

The discussion moderator Oleg Barabanov, Programme director of the Valdai Discussion Club, noted that even during the election campaign, the current ruling coalition and the directly victorious Fratelli d'Italia (Brothers of Italy), for all their respectability and parliamentary experience, were under heavy media and even political blow in many European countries, as well as from representatives of the EU up to the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. Against this background, Barabanov invited the experts to discuss why the right-wing coalition nevertheless came to power, what is the possible development of Italian politics and what awaits the relationship between Italy and Russia.

💬 Elena Maslova, senior researcher at the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences, pointed to the tense and antagonistic nature of the pre-election struggle in Italy, which brought to mind the post-war Italian parliamentary elections of 1948. Various labels were hung on the right-wing forces, they were accused of neo-fascism and pro-Russian orientation. Discussing the reasons for the victory of the party of Giorgia Meloni, Maslova emphasized the weakness and fragmentation of the left forces and the powerful demand for change in society. She also added that the Brothers of Italy program actively appeals to such a long-absent concept in Italian political discourse as the national interest, creating the image of Meloni as a kind of “protective mother” of the country.

💬 Vittorio Torrembini, Honorary Consul of Italy in Lipetsk, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Association of Italian Entrepreneurs in Russia GIM UNIMPRESA,  noted that the victory of the coalition led by Giorgia Meloni was quite expected. Italy's electoral system, in principle, provides great benefits to coalitions, he said, and the left was split, although it won a little more votes overall than competitors. He also called the predominance of leaders, not programs, as an important aspect of Italian political life. Voters constantly hope that the new leader will be able to change the situation. All parties, except for Meloni's, were part of the Draghi government, so she received all the dissatisfied votes. The paradox is that this does not necessarily mean agreement with the Brothers of Italy program. The electorate votes did not so much for a certain program as against what the previous government's mistakes.

💬 Igor Pelicciari, professor at the University of Urbino (UNIURB) , commenting on the subordinate position of foreign policy on the Italian political agenda, noted that until 1992 Italy actively acted as an international mediator, especially in the Balkans. But then its status at the international level began to decline. Despite its long diplomatic tradition, it has come to terms with its secondary political role and has begun to disguise it with a pro-European choice. At the same time, Italy's trade turnover is growing, but this is divorced from the foreign policy of Rome. Turning to Russian-Italian relations, Pelicciari stressed that for the past twenty years, Italy has been the only country in the EU in which pro-Russian forces were present in every parliament. However, friendship with Russia has always been a tactical element for Italian political leaders, and one should not expect that Rome's policy towards Russia will change in the short and medium term.

#Norms_and_Values #Italy

@valdai_club

🇮🇹 On June 12, 2023, Silvio Berlusconi, one of the most controversial and at the same time brightest Italian politicians, passed away.

The last thirty years in the political history of Italy have passed largely under his activities, as well as the struggle against him by his opponents both in Italy and in the EU as a whole.

Berlusconi was prime minister three times: in 1994-95, in 2001-2006 and in 2008-2011. Two times out of three, his tenure ended early, in the midst of scandals and coalition breakups. But he was chosen again and again.

As an experienced and cynical businessman, Berlusconi was immediately open to conduct no less direct and cynical business with Russia, free from any kind of ethical equivocation and moralisation. Moreover, business was both commercial and political. 

Berlusconi never traded Italy’s national interests for the sake of Russia, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Oleg Barabanov. The reason is that even the most irreconcilable opponents of Berlusconi, when they came to power instead of him, continued the same policy of dialogue and cooperation with Russia as Silvio Berlusconi did.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/russia-s-friend-remembering-silvio-berlusconi/

#Norms_and_Values #SilvioBerlusconi #Italy

@valdai_club