Italy, Hungary PMs discuss issues prior to EU summit
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The prime ministers of Italy and Hungary met in Rome to discuss both internal issues and matters related to the European Union's leadership.
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Giorgia Meloni, then-chairperson of the Brothers of Italy party, shakes hands with Hungarian PM Viktor Orban in the Parliament building, in Budapest, Hungary, February 28, 2018. (AP)
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome on Monday to discuss political issues prior to the crucial European Union Summit following the region's June elections.
Orban and Meloni discussed their common views on combatting illegal immigration, declining birth rates, and limiting shared EU sovereignty, reiterating their nations' good relationship. The leaders, however, disagreed on other political issues, including the leadership of the European Union Commission, and their stance on the Russia-Ukraine War.
Meloni, for her part, said that she and Orban do not see eye to eye regarding the war in Ukraine.
“We don’t always have coincident positions on Ukraine,” she said at a joint press conference with Orban following their meeting. However, she did declare that both Rome and Budapest share a common view on Ukraine's reconstruction.
Orban criticized the system of determining the Commission's leadership before the key EU summit, which will define the bloc's top jobs, drawing attention to its monopolization by three major European parties, resulting in the exclusion of smaller forces.
“That was not the original EU project, which was to involve all, larger and smaller,” Orban stated. “We cannot back these parties’ pact for the EU top jobs.”
Meloni is president of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party, which includes her right-wing Brothers of Italy party, while Orban's Fidesz party is not part of a European group following its departure from the center-right European People's Party (EPP) three years ago.
Having made great gains in the EU elections, the Italian PM's party is likely to make a bid for a top EU Commission post.
Deciding the leadership of the EU Commission
Over 360 million people across the EU's 27 nations were eligible to vote over four days in elections that will shape the EU's direction for the next five years. The vote came amid challenges such as the Ukraine war, global trade tensions, a climate emergency, and the potential for another Trump presidency, and saw great gains made by European far-right parties.
The new parliament will play a crucial role in deciding the leadership of the European Commission, with increasingly unpopular German conservative Ursula von der Leyen seeking a second term.
Germany saw its highest turnout since 1979 at 66%, yet this did not spare Chancellor Scholz from a poor showing. His Social Democrats, at 14%, were outpaced by the far-right AfD at 16-16.5% and significantly lagged behind the conservative CDU-CSU bloc's 29.5%.
In Austria, the far-right Freedom Party led the count for the first time in a nationwide ballot. Migration policy and climate change were key issues for voters.
In the Netherlands, the far-right Freedom Party of Geert Wilders came second with 17.7%, trailing the Green-Labour coalition led by Frans Timmermans.
Meloni's support is being sought by both von der Leyen for her second mandate and by Le Pen and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who aim to form a far-right supergroup in parliament.
