(Bloomberg) — A right-wing Italian government would seek rigorous appraisal of the country’s controversial “Belt and Road” pact with China, Giorgia Meloni’s top foreign policy adviser said.
(Bloomberg) — A right-wing Italian government would seek rigorous appraisal of the country’s controversial “Belt and Road” pact with China, Giorgia Meloni’s top foreign policy adviser said.
“It’s a given that there will be a thorough review of the memorandum when it expires, in close consultation with European and Atlantic partners,” said Giulio Terzi di Sant’Agata, a diplomat and former foreign minister, in an interview with the Formiche website. Terzi is in charge of foreign affairs in Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party.
Italy is the only Group of Seven country to have signed up to China’s infrastructure project, with a memorandum of understanding endorsed in 2019 by then Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. Prime Minister Mario Draghi later hardened Italy’s stance toward China.
Read More: Italy Hardens Stance on China, In Line With EU Investment Push
With an almost 20 percentage point lead over the Democratic Party ahead of Sept. 25 elections, Meloni is working hard to shore up her credibility and reassure voters that she’ll follow the course set by Draghi on matters like Russia’s war in Ukraine, fiscal policy and now China.
Matteo Salvini’s League, a junior partner in Meloni’s rightwing coalition, had supported Conte when he signed the pact with China.
In the interview, Terzi spoke in favor of higher defense spending amid closer integration among European Union countries. He also warned against reviving a nuclear deal with Iran and removing oil and gas sanctions.
“The integration of defense structures is an inescapable common European path, even though we are solidly embedded within the Atlantic Alliance,” he said. Such integration “would make European countries stronger.”
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