However, a final decision has yet to be made.
Italy has signaled to the US that it will withdraw from a controversial investment pact with China, known as the Silk Road Initiative, by the end of this year. Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is said to have reported this to US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy during a meeting in Rome last week, according to the Bloomberg news agency. However, a final decision has yet to be made.
Growing tensions between Beijing and Washington, both over China’s proximity to Russia and China’s Taiwan policy, would make it too risky to ally with the Asian powerhouse economically, according to media sources in Rome. According to Bloomberg sources, the United States expressly asked Rome to comment on the investment pact concluded in 2019 by the previous government led by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.
“The discussion is still open”
The decision is still being discussed on the administration floors in Rome. “We haven’t taken a decision yet, the discussion is still open. It’s a delicate decision,” Meloni said during a visit to Prague on Wednesday. She stressed that she did not share the previous government’s decision on the Silk Road.
Beijing’s economic retaliation is feared. According to the same sources, an announcement from Rome is only expected after the summit of heads of state and government of the G7, on May 19, in Hiroshima. So far, infrastructure projects worth €900 billion have been funded around the world as part of the “Silk Road” project.
In 2019, Italy became the first major industrial nation to join the China Silk Road Initiative’s multibillion-dollar investment program. So far, however, this has led to few concrete projects. Before his election victory last September, Meloni had declared that he would not proceed with the initiative.
(APA)