Chancellor Scholz receives Italy's Prime Minister Meloni in Berlin on Friday.
Bilateral and European issues are on the agenda.
The news ticker.
Update from February 3, 10 a.m
.: Giorgia Meloni is coming to Berlin today.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz will receive the Italian head of government in the afternoon, at around 5.10 p.m. there will be a joint press conference.
The German-Italian relationship is currently considered tense.
According to the Tagesspiegel
, Meloni said in advance
– albeit with a wink – that she was “allergic” to Germany.
"I tried to learn German, but I couldn't do it.
I am one who crams.
I'm allergic to Germany even in books."
Chancellor Scholz receives Italy's Prime Minister Meloni in Berlin
First report from February 2nd
: Berlin – Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) will receive Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Friday (February 3rd, 2022) at 2:30 p.m. for her inaugural visit to Berlin.
The Federal Press Office announced that the right-wing party leader of the Fratelli d'Italia would be received with military honors in the Federal Chancellery in the afternoon.
"Current bilateral, European and international issues" will be discussed, said Scholz' deputy government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann last week when the German-Italian appointment was announced.
Ukraine and migration are also likely to be topics.
The Italian head of government took her time: more than three months after being sworn in, Meloni traveled to the German capital.
With her party, she won the elections in the Mediterranean country with almost 60 million inhabitants at the end of September and has governed in a right-wing party alliance since then.
When Giorgia Meloni was elected Italy's new prime minister in October, waves ran high in Europe.
With regard to Ukraine, fears in Brussels were high.
Meloni's coalition partners, Silvio Berlusconi and Matteo Salvini, like to present themselves as Putin friends. But Meloni slowed them down, Italy is one of Kiev's firm supporters.
She supports Ukraine in the war against Russia and has spoken out in favor of further arms deliveries from Italy.
Scholz meets Meloni – is the Italian Prime Minister a wolf in sheep's clothing?
In the past, the
new head of government has in the past vehemently railed against the EU.
But on her first visit to Brussels, she announced that her country would play a bigger role in the European Union.
"Italy's voice in Europe will be strong," said the politician on the fringes of her visit.
Their interlocutors from the EU institutions invoked the cohesion of the international community.
The EU rapprochement can possibly be justified by the fact that Italy is dependent on the money from the EU reconstruction fund.
Meloni was seen as a post-fascist at loggerheads with the EU.
There was concern that Meloni would fuel Eurosceptics.
She scored points in the election campaign with the slogan "Italy first".
The head of the far-right Fratelli d'Italia party used to never hide her admiration for the dictator Benito Mussolini.
Meloni is the first woman in Italy's history to hold the post of head of government.
