Giorgia Meloni arrived at the Palace of Congresses in Granada for the start of the work of the informal summit of the leaders of the European Union organized by the Spanish presidency. Welcomed by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on the second day in Andalusia after the summit of the European Political Community, the Italian Prime Minister will also meet German Chancellor Olaf Scholz during a bilateral meeting to ease the recent tensions between Rome and Berlin on the issue of migrants and the role of NGOs . “The bilateral meeting will be an opportunity to think about how to take steps forward, especially on what interests Italy, which is the issue of the external dimension, the agreements with North Africa and the war on traffickers”, said the prime minister who yesterday held talks with the leaders of the United Kingdom and Albania.
Autonomy and immigration among the topics on the agenda
In the agenda of the informal European Council, the Italian side requested, in light of the flow situation, the inclusion of the migration issue in the agenda of the work. Request accepted by the Spanish presidency and by Charles Michel, who indicated it in his traditional letter of invitation to European leaders as the most pressing issue facing the EU at the moment. Although central, the migrant front will not monopolize the entire summit. In fact, several discussions are planned. Among these is a reflection on the work done in Brussels starting from the Covid pandemic and the war in Ukraine. The new European Strategic Agenda will also be the protagonist, with particular reference to two major macro themes. First, the link between enlargement and reforms linked to the question of the “absorption” capacity of new revenues with several “elderly” countries that could go from major beneficiaries of cohesion funds to net contributors. Second, the strategic autonomy of the European Union aimed at obtaining ever-increasing economic and industrial independence.
King Felipe’s speech at the Alhambra
Yesterday the leaders’ dinner at the Alhambra palace closed the third summit of the European Political Community which brought together 45 heads of state or government, including the Ukrainian present Volodymyr Zelensky. During his speech before the leaders, the Spanish sovereign Felipe VI appealed for “true peace” in Ukraine and praised the history of Granada, “example of cultural fusion” in Europe.
Source-tg24.sky.it