The volume of political confrontation rises
For the ESM, Italy can wait. This is the only conclusion “ratified” by our government. Despite European pressure, Giorgia Meloni in Brussels took her time. A decision validated by Parliament in the same hours, when the Chamber of Deputies on Friday morning approved the suspension for the ratification of the European Stability Mechanism valid for another four months. The government is stalling to delay as long as possible the final vote on the ratification of the reform in order to conclude first two important and delicate negotiations that are underway with the European institutions: that for the release of the payments of the NRRP, the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, and that for the modification of the European rules on budgets, the so-called Stability Pact. But what weighs most heavily is the failure of the round table on migrants, due to the veto imposed by Hungary and Poland, despite the mediation of the Italian prime minister. The Migration and Asylum Pact, reached on 8 June by the interior ministers, in fact envisaged the obligation of solidarity, with relocations or – alternatively – the payment of compensation. The agreement had been approved by qualified majority, with Warsaw and Budapest opposing. The two leaders, Poland’s Mateusz Morawiecki and Hungary’s Viktor Orban, insisted on unanimity: according to them, issues concerning migration cannot only be approved by a majority, based on the conclusions of the June 2018 summit. The line on which Italy, instead, found the greatest consensus is that of the external solution, the measure that envisages the substantial resolution of the migration problem: the financial and political intervention of the European Union in African countries, so as to reduce migratory flows upstream by favouring the development of social and labour policies, so as to create a valid alternative for those who decide to emigrate for economic reasons.
It has been a complicated week for the Prime Minister, characterized fundamentally by the clash with the opposition, which has become particularly polarized in recent days. The fiercest confrontation was on Wednesday in the Chamber of Deputies, where she had to fight off attacks from the PD and M5S on the role Italy is assuming in Europe. An important repartee, which all in all reveals an obvious reality: there are reasons for nervousness on both sides. The centre-right, although compact and united, is grappling with ideological distances between its components precisely on the EMS (Lega and FdI are more reluctant than Forza Italia) and is also agitated by the turmoil that characterises the coalition’s third wing, Forza Italia, which has entered its pre-congressional phase, which could lead to alterations in the majority balance. The centre-left, on the other hand, has to deal with a drop in consensus after the new electoral defeat in Molise and with a controversial dialogue between its two main souls, PD and M5S, fellow travellers who seem to be struggling to find union and balance.
On the foreign front, the spotlight has been on Cardinal Zuppi’s mission to Moscow on behalf of the Vatican. A difficult mission, as evidenced already by the fact that neither President Putin nor Foreign Minister Lavrov received him. “No specific agreement” has been reached between the Kremlin and the Vatican emissary. “If necessary, dialogue will continue”, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov had said during the visit, commenting with not very encouraging words on the outcome of the mission’s most important meeting, that with Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign policy advisor. Even on the humanitarian issues on which the visit focused, therefore, difficulties remain. Not to mention a possible real peace mediation with Kiev, which the Holy See has always ruled out. To avoid any misunderstanding, however, it was Peskov who made things clear: “Unfortunately, so far there are no conditions” for a political or diplomatic solution to the conflict and “therefore the special military operation continues”. The diplomatic result is therefore a failure. But politically it was a turning point. Never since the beginning of the conflict had a player from the Western front travelled first to Kiev and then to Moscow to establish a dialogue. The Vatican was the first.
