Italy’s head of government opposes pro-Russian forces in her right-wing coalition. She is even thinking of sending fighter jets to Kiev.
02/21/2023 | by Christian Wermke
Giorgia Meloni visiting Bucha © Portal
Rome, Kiev Ukrainian folk music played in the background as Giorgia Meloni was received by the deputy foreign minister on the platform in Kiev. The weather is warm, Meloni receives flowers and shakes hands.
The fact that Italy’s head of government left for Ukraine just three days before the anniversary of the Russian war of aggression should send a clear signal to the country: yes, we continue to support you, even if a right-wing tripartite alliance is in power in Rome since October – and two of the parties of the bosses who are considered staunch supporters of Vladimir Putin are mentioned.
Lega boss Matteo Salvini, who once posed with Putin’s image on his shirt in Moscow, recently held back a bit verbally. Silvio Berlusconi, on the other hand, head of the centre-right Forza Italia party, has committed one diplomatic faux pas after another.
Just a week and a half ago, he again blamed the Russian invasion on the Ukrainian president: it would have been enough if Volodymyr Zelensky “had not attacked the two autonomous republics of Donbass”, then none of this would have happened, the former government said into microphones.
He also commented on the first meeting between Meloni and Selenski, which took place recently on the sidelines of the EU summit: “If I were prime minister, I would not have met Selenski.”
Berlusconi’s words were “damages for Italy”, one of Zelensky’s aides later said. Berlusconi should stop “masking” and make it public that he supports the “genocide of Ukrainians”.
conditions have changed
Meloni has always supported Ukraine – not just since taking office, but also as leader of the opposition. His post-fascist Fratelli d’Italia party supported the previous Mario Draghi government in all arms deliveries.
However, the situation has changed: while Draghi was still an important voice in the EU and went to Kiev along with French President Emmanuel Macron and Chancellor Olaf Scholz in the summer of 2022, Meloni recently seemed isolated.
Macron just invited Scholz to the surprise dinner with Selenski at the Élysée Palace. “Honestly, I found this invitation inappropriate,” joked Meloni. So now she’s alone in Kiev – just one day after US President Joe Biden’s surprise visit.
Meloni also went to the town of Bucha, where the Russians shot several civilians shortly after the war broke out. She got the mayor to tell her about the massacres, looked at an exhibition of photos of the bombings, laid a wreath at a memorial: “You are not alone,” Meloni said. Italy was with the Ukrainians from the beginning – and will be until the end. “You have our full support.”
In Irpin, the 46-year-old delivered two power generators to keep critical infrastructure running. The government will ship a total of 52 generators in the coming weeks, along with transformers and cables.
This was supposed to help three million people, and Meloni released 666,000 euros for this. Zelensky, with whom the Italian was due to meet at the end of the day, would probably prefer new arms supply pledges.
Italy has sent six packages so far. The Draghi government kept secret which weapons systems were involved. Only the dimensions are clear: support so far totals around one billion euros, said Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani. Main battle tanks should not be included until now. But soon the Samp/T air defense system developed with France.
Shortly before his trip, Meloni even signaled his readiness to send five fighter jets to Kiev. The AMX aircraft were built in the 1980s and will be phased out by the Italian Air Force.
But Brazil would also have to agree to the deal: the aircraft would then be produced by an Italian-Brazilian consortium.