"Italy and Germany are closer today than ever. This is good news for our people and for Europe as a whole."
This was stated by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in joint statements to the press together with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz , after the Italy-Germany intergovernmental summit in Villa Pamphili where they signed an agreement.
THE STATEMENTS
"We are at a particularly complex juncture, which forces Europe to choose whether to be the protagonist of its own destiny or rather to suffer it ," the Prime Minister added. "From our perspective, this is a phase that requires clarity, responsibility, courage, and above all the intelligence needed to transform crises into opportunities. I personally am convinced that at this turning point in history, Italy and Germany have a particular responsibility, clearly because of their history, their influence, and their leadership ."
Furthermore: "A very important issue on which we agree with Chancellor Merz is that a decisive change of pace is needed in Europe regarding the competitiveness of our businesses, because it is now a well-established fact and evident to anyone with an intellectual integrity that a certain ideological vision of the green transition has ended up bringing our industries to their knees , consigning Europe to new, dangerous strategic dependencies without, however, managing to make a real impact on the global protection of the environment and nature."
On foreign policy: " We have always been in strong agreement on Ukraine and the Middle East. We will continue to do our part both to achieve a just and lasting peace in Ukraine and to build a stable framework of security and prosperity in the Middle East."
Merz 's words: "At the last European summit, there was a very strong convergence between Italy and Germany: the EU must strengthen industrial competitiveness and do more for security . It must focus on essential issues, such as working for peace in Ukraine."
