Category Archives: Luigi Di Maio

Italian trapped in UAE embassy pleads with Giorgia Meloni to get him home

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Andrea Costantino says he has been in tiny room since release from prison on ‘totally unfounded’ charges of funding terrorism

An Italian man trapped for six months in his country’s embassy in the UAE has claimed he is the victim of a diplomatic spat between the two states and pleaded with Giorgia Meloni’s government to bring him home.

Andrea Costantino, 49, said he had been living a “Groundhog day-like” existence in a tiny room at the Italian embassy in Abu Dhabi since being released in late May from the emirate’s notorious maximum-security prison, Al Wathba, where he spent more than a year on charges of funding terrorism in war-torn Yemen after shipping a cargo of diesel to a client there.

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Row breaks out over favourite for EU’s first ever special envoy to Gulf

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Critics say former Italian foreign minister Luigi Di Maio lacks experience and has poor record in Gulf relations

A row has broken out over the appointment of the EU’s first ever special envoy to the Gulf, as internal critics allege the frontrunner, the former Italian foreign minister Luigi Di Maio, is poorly qualified for the job.

Di Maio, a former leader of the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S), served as Italy’s foreign minister for just over three years until last month. He has now been selected by a panel of European officials as the best of four candidates to become the EU’s special representative to the Gulf states, beating veteran politicians with more experience.

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Italy reignites Mont Blanc border dispute with France

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Foreign minister makes formal complaint about ‘interference’ on the highest Alpine peak

Italy has reignited a dispute with France over Mont Blanc border rights after French authorities imposed measures that encroached on Italian territory.

Luigi Di Maio, the Italian foreign minister, who in the past has stoked tensions with France over other issues, said he had written a formal letter of complaint to the French government via the Italian embassy in Paris expressing his “strong disappointment” over the “interference” on the highest Alpine peak.

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Five Star’s Luigi Di Maio calls on Italians to protest against his government

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Italian foreign minister’s move is sign of turmoil between coalition partners M5S and PD

The Italian foreign minister and former leader of the Five Star Movement (M5S) is calling for protests this weekend against the government he sits in, as Italy appears set for another period of political instability.

Luigi Di Maio said the Italian people “must peacefully demonstrate” in Rome on Saturday against a system that “wants to cancel our laws”.

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Italy to renew anti-migration deal with Libya

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Foreign minister says deal has reduced number of arrivals and deaths at sea

Italy is to renew its deal with the UN-backed government in Libya under which the Libyan coastguard stops migrant boats at sea and sends their passengers back to the north African country, where aid agencies say they face torture and abuse.

The foreign minister, Luigi Di Maio, told the lower house of parliament that it would be “unwise for Italy to break off its agreement with Libya on handling asylum seekers and combating human trafficking”.

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Italy’s president gives parties four days to form stable government

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Sergio Mattarella said that without a stable coalition Italy would have to head to the polls

Italy’s president has given the country’s main political parties four more days to negotiate the formation of an alternative government after the collapse of the stormy alliance between the far-right League and anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S).

Sergio Mattarella said on Thursday night that the crisis must be “resolved quickly” and that without a solid majority the only other option would be new elections.

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Italy moves closer to fresh elections that could bolster far right

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Matteo Salvini reiterates call for snap vote as his party plans motion to dismantle coalition

Italy appears set for fresh elections that could push the country further toward the far right.

Matteo Salvini, the deputy prime minister, reiterated his calls for a snap vote on Friday, adding that any attempt to block his wishes and install a new ruling coalition would be unacceptable. His League party said it would present a no-confidence motion in the senate in its push to dismantle the tempestuous coalition with the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S).

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EU could fine Italy £3bn for breaking spending and borrowing rules

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Italy’s debt amounts to 132% and servicing it costs more than annual education budget

The EU is poised to punish Italy over its “snowballing” spending and borrowing, putting Brussels on a collision course with the populist government in Rome.

In a move expected to raise tensions with Italy, the European commission paved the way for an initial fine of as much as €3.5bn (£3.1bn) on Wednesday after advising the country had met the threshold for disciplinary action.

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Italian PM’s threat to quit leaves ball in Salvini’s court

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Bickering between the League and M5S has intensified since European elections

The fate of Italy’s coalition government lies with the far-right deputy prime minister, Matteo Salvini, a day after the prime minister threatened to resign if Salvini’s League and its coalition partner, the Five Star Movement (M5S), could not patch things up.

Giuseppe Conte, a law professor who was plucked from obscurity a year ago to steer the coalition, issued the ultimatum to Salvini and M5S’s Luigi Di Maio during a press conference on Monday night, urging them to set aside their many differences and “revive the spirit” of the coalition government’s early days, or seek new elections.

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Teacher suspended after her pupils criticise Italian far-right law

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Schoolchildren’s video presentation compared Salvini decree to 1930s racial laws

An Italian teacher has been suspended over a video made by her students that compared a security law drafted by Italy’s far-right interior minister, Matteo Salvini, to Mussolini’s racial laws, provoking a storm of protest against her suspension across the country.

Rosa Maria Dell’Aria was last week suspended for 15 days on half pay after an investigation by the education ministry’s provincial authority in Palermo found she had not “supervised” her students’ work.

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Italy pulls out red carpet for Xi Jinping in trade charm offensive

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Bocelli to sing for China’s president as Italy becomes first G7 nation to back ‘Silk Road’ plan

Rome gave a lavish welcome to the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, his wife and entourage on Friday as Italy and China controversially pledged to strengthen trade and investment ties.

Xi is in the Italian capital on a two-day state visit, along with about 200 officials. He is expected to strike a range of deals worth up to €7bn and attend a gala dinner, where the tenor Andrea Bocelli will perform, during his visit.

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France recalls Rome envoy over worst verbal onslaught ‘since the war’

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Move comes after Italian deputy PM met leaders of the anti-Macron gilets jaunes

Paris has taken the extraordinary step of recalling its ambassador from Rome, in the worst crisis between the two neighbouring countries since the second world war.

France blamed what it called called baseless verbal attacks from Italy’s political leaders, which it said were “without precedent since world war two”.

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