Meloni now on Europe’s centre stage

Meloni (right) and von der Leyen arriving for a working lunch meeting on economic security as part of the G7 Leaders’ Summit in Hiroshima. — AFP

WHEN Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni took power in 2022, far-right parties across Europe hailed her victory, expecting the fiery new leader in Rome to pursue a nationalist agenda and battle the Brussels bureaucracy.

But rather than clash with the European Union elites, Meloni surprised friend and foe alike by working closely with them, presenting herself as a bridge between the mainstream centre-right and her own arch-conservative camp, which was previously shunned.