by Alessia Peretti
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will miss Friday’s high-level meeting in Berlin where German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and US President Joe Biden will discuss key global issues - a no-show that has already raised concerns in Italy about the country’s relevance on the world stage.
Commenting on her absence, Meloni said she "could not attend under any circumstances" as she had a pre-scheduled diplomatic visit to the Middle East, including a stop in Lebanon.
"It’s more effective to speak directly with the people in the region than to talk among ourselves," she also said on Wednesday, framing the trip as a priority.
But not everyone is convinced.
"In a last-minute attempt to cover for her absence in Berlin, Meloni hastily arranged a trip to Lebanon. But this won’t hide that her government is increasingly irrelevant internationally,” 5 Star Movement MEP Danilo Della Valle (The Left) told Euractiv.
The Berlin summit, initially scheduled for last week, was postponed due to Hurricane Milton in the US. While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was initially expected to attend, Meloni was reportedly not invited.
Della Valle said Meloni is a "yes-woman" to NATO and US interests in Europe.
"She was with Biden before and she will be with him after 4 November, whether Kamala Harris or Donald Trump wins,” he added.
He also argued that this alignment undermines Italy’s and Europe’s interests, which he believes can only be safeguarded through a lasting peace between Ukraine and Russia.
Filippo Simonelli, an analyst at the Italian think tank Institute of International Affairs (IAI), also noted Meloni’s shift on Ukraine as the reason for her exclusion from the Berlin meeting.
"Meloni has cooled her enthusiasm for Ukraine for domestic political gain, a move that risks isolating Italy on both the European and global stages," Simonelli said.
“In general, it seems that the government, particularly key figures like Defence Minister Guido Crosetto, is betting on a Trump victory in the upcoming US elections and is shifting its foreign policy accordingly," Simonelli said.
However, Simonelli stressed that Meloni’s verbal distancing from the Ukraine war does not match her government’s actions.
"Her rhetoric does not reflect reality," he said, pointing out that the Italian military industry, particularly companies like Leonardo and Rheinmetall, has made significant investments in military logistics and modernisation — projects that her government strongly supports. Simonelli also mentioned the multi-year defence programme approved by Meloni’s government, which further highlights this inconsistency.
"There is a strong cognitive dissonance between what political leaders say and what they, along with the parties they lead, ultimately vote for in Parliament”, Simonelli explained, adding that Meloni’s government has backed military investment with considerable conviction.
Simonelli concluded by warning that using foreign policy to bolster domestic approval is a risky strategy.
“Historically, leveraging foreign policy for domestic political gain is rarely a winning strategy. One might wonder if her disengagement will impact the international stage, especially after she had built a solid reputation among foreign leaders and the international press as a representative of a conservative right, but one firmly anchored in Atlanticism,” he added.
*first published in: Euractiv.com
By: N. Peter Kramer
