Summit leaders have reshoot in Rio after Biden, Justin Trudeau and Giorgia Meloni were no-shows the day before
The first time G20 leaders took their photo together at a summit in Rio, they forgot Joe Biden. On Tuesday, they had a reshoot – with the outgoing US president firmly back in the frame.
Biden; the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau; and the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni all missed the photo on Monday due to what US officials called “logistical issues”.
Continue reading...US president arrived for photograph with other world leaders – but found they had gone ahead without him
Joe Biden headed for a photo with fellow G20 leaders in Rio de Janeiro at his final summit as US president on Monday – only to find they had already taken the picture without him.
Frustrated US officials blamed “logistical issues” for the blunder which meant that Biden missed out on the shot, along with the Canadian and Italian prime ministers.
Continue reading...Budapest meeting finds consensus on need to raise growth and productivity as ‘America first’ protectionism looms
EU leaders meeting in Budapest have signed a declaration aimed at boosting the bloc’s ailing competitiveness – a task given added urgency by the threat of “America first” protectionist trade policies promised by the US president-elect, Donald Trump.
The bloc has too many barriers to innovation and must drastically reduce red tape, especially for startups; ramp up investment; make access to capital easier; and raise productivity, the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said on Friday.
Continue reading...Council of Europe monitor reports ‘many accounts of racial profiling’ but Giorgia Meloni says force ‘deserves respect’
The Council of Europe has come under fire from Italian leaders after the publication of a report accusing the country’s police force of racist and homophobic abuse.
In its latest snapshot of Italy, published on Monday, the ECRI, the council’s independent human rights monitoring body, said that during a visit to Italy its delegation learned about “many accounts of racial profiling by law enforcement officials that impacts especially the Roma community and people of African descent”.
Continue reading...Move by Italian PM overturns ruling by a Rome court that could have blocked deal to curb migrant arrivals
Italy’s far-right government has passed a new law to overcome a court ruling that risks blocking the country’s multimillion-dollar deal with Albania aimed at curbing migrant arrivals.
On Friday, a court in Rome ruled to transfer back to Italy the last 12 asylum seekers being held in the new Italian migration hub in Albania. The ruling has cast doubt on the feasibility and legality of plans by the EU to explore ways to establish migrant processing and detention centres outside the bloc as part of a new hardline approach to migration.
Continue reading...Italians who go abroad to have a baby via surrogacy will face jail terms and fines of up to €1m
Italy’s parliament has made it illegal for couples to go abroad to have a baby via surrogacy – a pet project of the prime minister Giorgia Meloni’s party that activists say is meant to target same-sex partners.
Since taking office in 2022, Meloni has pursued a highly conservative social agenda, looking to promote what she sees as traditional family values, making it progressively harder for LGBTQ couples to become legal parents.
Continue reading...Gomorrah author and Meloni critic’s non-inclusion in Italy’s lineup angers writers amid claims of censorship
The Gomorrah author Roberto Saviano will appear at the Frankfurt book fair this week despite being snubbed by the organisers of the official Italian delegation, setting the scene for a clash between the country’s far-right government and its most prominent writers.
Saviano, one of Italy’s bestselling living writers and an ardent critic of the far-right prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, was absent from the initial lineup of 100 authors representing Italy, this year’s guest of honour, when it was announced in May.
Continue reading...Italian PM demands security guarantees for her country’s Unifil troops after series of attacks by Israel
Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, has said she will visit Lebanon on Friday as she demanded security guarantees from Israel for her country’s troops there just days after UN peacekeeper bases came under attack.
Italy’s government has been a strong supporter of Israel in the year since Hamas’s 7 October attacks but has sharply criticised attacks on the UN mission, known as Unifil, and Israeli calls for the peacekeepers to withdraw.
Continue reading...European Commission report ‘completely ineffective as an enforcement tool’, according to civil liberties organisation
The European Commission’s exhaustive annual audit of democratic standards across the bloc is overly positive and ultimately ineffective because it is not tied to any kind of enforcement mechanism, a leading European civil liberties network has said.
The yearly rule of law reports were launched five years ago and are presented by the commission as a key weapon in its armoury against democratic backsliding, including corruption and attacks on independent media and judiciary, across the union.
Continue reading...Italian PM Giorgia Meloni among those admiring Berlinguer as new film and exhibitions celebrate his role as a unifier
Enrico Berlinguer was a giant of the Italian left in the 1970s and 80s, coming close to leading the Communist party into government through a “historic compromise” with the country’s Christian Democrats, and championing “Eurocommunism”, a liberal, anti-Stalinist version of Marxism that briefly swept the continent.
But his death 40 years ago, and the collapse of Europe’s communist parties in the late 1980s, eclipsed Berlinguer’s legacy, and Italy has since moved across the political spectrum, electing the far-right Giorgia Meloni as prime minister in 2022.
Continue reading...Fears agreement will set dangerous EU precedent with up to 3,000 men a month held during asylum processing
Italy has formally opened two centres in Albania where it plans to hold men who are intercepted in international waters while trying to cross from Africa to Europe.
The Italian ambassador to Albania, Fabrizio Bucci, said the centres were ready to accommodate people while their asylum applications were processed, but could not say when the first ones would arrive. “As of today, the two centres are ready and operational,” Bucci told journalists at the port of Shëngjin on Albania’s Adriatic coast where the people picked up will land.
Continue reading...Bill by Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government comes down hard on climate activists and migrants
Demonstrations are being held across Italy on Wednesday evening in protest against a new security bill described as “repressive” and “dangerous for the country’s democracy”.
The 24 laws contained in the bill, which passed its first hurdle in the lower house of parliament last week and now needs approval in the senate, is the latest attempt by Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government to get tough on law and order. It comes down especially hard on climate activists and migrants.
Continue reading...Trattoria Meloni contains 70 portraits of Italian PM and is near site where arrivals to the EU are processed
A restaurant dedicated to Giorgia Meloni has opened in the vicinity of a camp in Albania where the asylum claims of people who seek to enter the EU by sea will be processed as part of a controversial pact promoted by the Italian far-right prime minister.
Trattoria Meloni, a seafood restaurant in the northern port of Shëngjin, was opened by Gjergj Luca, a restaurant owner who is close to the Albanian prime minister, Edi Rama.
Continue reading...Choice of recipient and presenter causes anger at council as Italy’s far-right PM renews links with Trump allies
Elon Musk is to present Giorgia Meloni with the Atlantic Council’s global citizen award in New York, as Italy’s far-right prime minister resurrects links with allies of Donald Trump before the US presidential elections.
Meloni will receive the prize during a gala dinner on the sidelines of the UN general assembly in recognition of her “groundbreaking role as Italy’s first female prime minister, her strong support of the European Union and the transatlantic alliance, and her 2024 chairmanship of the Group of Seven”.
Continue reading...Meloni government accused of lacking will to confront climate crisis as floods cause havoc in Emilia-Romagna
Two people are missing and about 1,000 people have been evacuated from their homes after devastating floods and landslides hit the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, prompting accusations that Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government lacks the will to confront the climate crisis.
The flooding was brought on by Storm Boris, which had earlier wreaked havoc in central and eastern Europe, killing at least 24 people. Several major cities in central Europe were bracing for swollen rivers to peak on Thursday but defences generally appeared to be holding.
Continue reading...The row over ‘frockgate’ continues to trouble the prime minister this week, while his decision to visit his far-right Italian counterpart, Giorgia Meloni, has upset many in his party. The Guardian’s John Harris talks to the political correspondent Aletha Adu, who was travelling with Keir Starmer. Also, the Guardian’s Europe correspondent, Jon Henley, joins John Harris to look at the rise of the far-right on the continent
Continue reading...Britain promises to send £4m to back Italian crackdown on irregular migration
Keir Starmer has shown “great interest” in the Italy-Albania migration deal, the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, has said, as the UK vowed to send £4m to support her controversial crackdown on irregular migration.
Speaking at a press conference in Rome, the prime minister agreed with Meloni, stressing the importance of the relationship betwen the UK and Italy.
Continue reading...Some Labourites may see a hard-right populist but the British PM has an eye on the immigration policies of an ally
Keir Starmer will be under no illusions at the level of discomfort some in his party may have felt at the sight of their leader smiling and joking with Giorgia Meloni as they strolled through the gardens of the Villa Doria Pamphili on his trip to Rome on Monday.
The Italian prime minister’s brand of hard-right populism is far out of the comfort zone of many Labour MPs, and even though she governs, for the most part, from the centre-right, they are unable to shrug off her party’s neo-fascist roots.
Continue reading...Backbenchers and NGOs criticise decision to explore how country has cut migrant numbers at Rome talks
Keir Starmer is under pressure from Labour backbenchers and NGOs to distance his government from Giorgia Meloni’s hard-right immigration policies on the eve of bilateral talks in Rome.
After the UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, said the UK would consider copying Italy’s plans to process asylum applicants in a third country such as Albania, one backbencher questioned why a Labour administration was “seeking to learn lessons from a neo-fascist government”.
Continue reading...EU officials ask Giorgia Meloni to guarantee independence and funding of public broadcaster amid growing worries
The European Commission has raised the alarm about the independence of Italy’s public service media and Rome’s failure to reform the country’s strict defamation law, which is widely seen as silencing government critics.
In a report issued on Wednesday EU officials identified “persisting challenges related to the effectiveness of [the] governance and funding” of Italy’s public service media, urging Giorgia Meloni’s government to guarantee both its independence and its funding.
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