Joe Biden on Thursday gave a warm welcome to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, whom he notably thanked for his “very strong support” for Ukraine, he who had however publicly worried about the coming to power in Italy of his far-right party.
The American president insisted on the “very important role” played by Italy as a military ally within NATO, and above all on the support given by the country to Ukraine in the face of the invasion by the Russia.
“It makes a big difference,” he said as he received Giorgia Meloni in the Oval Office.
“We recognize our friends in hardship. I think Western nations have shown that they can count on each other,” the Italian prime minister said of Ukraine.
She praised the “historically strong” relations between the United States and Italy, which “remain solid regardless of the political color” of successive governments.
The head of the Italian government also said she wanted to talk about trade and economic relations with the American president, whose major reindustrialization and investment plans worry Europeans.
Joe Biden also recalled that Italy would chair the G7 next year (Germany, Canada, France, United States, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom) and joked: “I hope you will be nice to me in as President”.
There was no question in front of the press of a delicate subject on the agenda of the bilateral meeting, namely the relationship between Italy and China.
Italy says it is ready to leave the very controversial Chinese initiative of the New Silk Roads, which is the only G7 member state to have announced in 2019 to join this massive investment program from Beijing, without major fallout since. .
But Rome does not want to openly provoke the second world power, for fear of suffering painful economic reprisals.
The United States, engaged in a fierce rivalry with Beijing, encourages Europeans to distance themselves from China.
Joe Biden was careful not to comment on Thursday on the political orientation of his interlocutor, leader of a party which finds its historical roots in fascism.
On September 29, 2022, Joe Biden had spoken to donors to the Democratic Party about the great fight that, according to him, the supporters of democracy and the proponents of authoritarianism are waging in the world, including in the United States.
He had mentioned the elections won by Fratelli d’Italia to illustrate his point.
“You see what happened in Italy with this election. You see what is happening in the world,” he said.
Thursday, Joe Biden rather sought to put Giorgia Meloni at ease by evoking, as he likes to do, personal anecdotes.
Proud descendant of Irish immigrants, the American president however stressed that his wife, Jill Biden, had Italian roots, like many Americans: “I married the granddaughter of a certain Dominic Giacoppa, I just wanted let you know.”
27/07/2023 23:37:17 – Washington (AFP) – © 2023 AFP