Question: Good morning, President Meloni. What are you expecting from the next two days also regarding the issue of migration?
President Meloni: I expect steps forward. There will be an update on the migration issue with a report by the President of the Commission, providing information on concrete steps based on the conclusions of the meeting in February. I can say that I am satisfied with the latest version of the draft conclusions, which ask the Commission to proceed quickly, with the status of these measures to be reviewed at the next European Council meeting. We can therefore confirm that migration is now considered to be a key issue (we could say that this was unthinkable up until a few months ago), which is being followed step-by-step by the Council. This is excellent news. 

Question: President von der Leyen will meet with Chancellor Scholz today regarding the future of cars. Things seem to be moving towards a compromise on synthetic fuels. How do you see this bilateral meeting and what would biofuel being excluded mean for Italy?
President Meloni: I have nothing to say about their bilateral meeting: these meetings are normal and happen all the time; we also do them. With regard to the matter in question, you know that we are at the forefront on this. The argument we keep supporting and that we will reiterate is that, without prejudice to the objectives of the transition, which we agree with, we do not believe that the European Union should also decide which technologies are to be used to reach those objectives, also because Italy, and therefore Europe, are potentially at the cutting edge of certain technologies. On a basis such as this, deciding to tie ourselves to technologies where non-EU countries have the cutting edge instead is, in my view, a choice that does not favour the competitiveness of our system. This seems like a common-sense argument to me and we therefore trust that it will also pass with regard to biofuels.

Question: With regard to the Stability and Growth Pact, are you concerned that the position of frugal countries is too rigid regarding stricter and quicker debt repayment by highly indebted countries?
President Meloni: As you know, there are always rather different views on these matters. However, I think that the European Union must learn from its mistakes, from the past, from the current situation we are facing. Today, Italy and all Member States are being asked to make significant investments for the ecological transition, for the digital transition, for strategic supply chains (another choice that marks a change from the lack of attention there was in the past). The investments required to make our system competitive must clearly be taken into consideration when it comes to governance. Compared with what we have seen in the past (and for us it would be tragic to return to the previous guidelines), I believe the challenge must be to achieve a governance that pays more attention to growth and not only to stability. There has been progress, but a lot of work still needs to be done on this.

Question: With regard to Ukraine, are you in any way concerned about the positions expressed by the Lega party in Parliament? 
President Meloni: They don’t worry me. Regardless of the positions expressed, the reminder to continue working for a resolution of the conflict, on which we are of course all working, the point is to all understand what is actually useful to reach an end to the conflict. I have said what I think: in the current context, there is no more effective way to ensure a balance between the forces on the ground, which is the only way to force a negotiation in the end, which, however, must be just. One cannot disregard who is the aggressor and who is the victim of the aggression. I am not concerned because, as I have said on many other occasions, I look at the facts, and the fact of the matter is that I have never had problems with Italy’s line which, as you know, is a very clear line.

Question: Will you be having any bilateral meetings?
President Meloni: I am seeing Prime Minister Morawiecki now and I also have a meeting planned with the Greek Prime Minister, which may also include other countries, on governance issues in particular. I am also in touch with Emmanuel Macron. 
    
[Courtesy translation]