EU summit
Meloni: Zelenskyj’s invitation to Paris “politically incorrect”
Reinforces her criticism of the tripartite meeting of Zelenskyj, Scholz and Macron in Paris: Giorgia Meloni, Prime Minister of Italy. photo
© Olivier Matthys/AP/dpa
Before the EU summit, Ukrainian President Zelenskyj met Chancellor Scholz and French President Macron in a three-way meeting. Italy’s prime minister is again critical.
Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has renewed her criticism of Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz’s separate meeting with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The meeting in Paris one day before the EU summit was “politically wrong”, Meloni emphasized on Friday after the conclusion of the deliberations of the heads of state and government of the European Union in Brussels. She said the appointment could weaken the cohesion of Europe.
Selenskyj met President Macron and Chancellor Scholz (SPD) in the French capital on Wednesday evening. That had caused a stir in Italy. Meloni was isolated, it said. Predecessor Mario Draghi was more at eye level with Macron and Scholz; the three had traveled to Kyiv together in June 2022.
No invitation because of diplomatic discord?
However, Draghi’s ultra-right successor was not invited to the dinner in Paris. On the one hand, observers attribute this to the fact that there had already been diplomatic discord between Paris and Rome because of Meloni’s migration policy. In addition, although Meloni has always emphasized her support for Ukraine, others in her coalition are considered Russia-friendly and have repeatedly expressed doubts about arms deliveries to Kyiv.
The Prime Minister said that in the current situation with the war in Ukraine, it is crucial that Europe should stand united on Kiev’s side and oppose the aggressor Russia. This unity then underlined the joint photo of the 27 heads of state and government with Selenskyj. “This impression of strength must not be undermined under any circumstances,” said Meloni. In addition, she claimed of the dinner in Paris: “If I had been invited, I would have considered not going.”
Regardless of the discord, Meloni also said that France and Italy want to continue to deliver the jointly developed Samp/T air defense system to Ukraine. The two countries have been working on this for weeks. “I hope that in the next few days we can definitely say that we are ready,” Meloni announced.
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