Meloni: "The judges? I don’t believe in conspiracies but the vote of the Italians counts"

“I had taken into account that there would be obstacles” but “the Italy-Albania protocol will work. I will not allow a model that we have identified in full compliance with Italian and European law to be dismantled because there is a part of politics that I disagree with this reading and how immigration should be managed. I am determined to move forward.” Giorgia Meloni, interviewed by the director of “Il Tempo” Tommaso Cerno – on the occasion of the newspaper’s 80th anniversary party, returns to talk about the CPRs built in Albania after the judiciary’s stop to the transfer of migrants. “I wouldn’t speak of a conspiracy. I don’t believe there is a plan to subvert the popular will” but “I believe that there is a certain lack of care for the popular will on the part of some”, he adds, referring to the judges’ decision and, in particular, to the email of the magistrate Patarnello who has caused a lot of noise in recent days. That email, the prime minister further underlines, “says that I am not acting out of personal interest but out of political will. And she says that this is a problem, but I know it. A strong politician, who has no skeletons in the closet, does not have a second agenda , cannot be influenced, it is a problem for many, for all those who have built empires on the weakness of politics.” A concept forcefully reiterated: “I continue to respond to the will of the people and not to be influenced by anyone with respect to what I think is right to give answers to citizens, in compliance with the laws”, concluded the prime minister.

Meloni then focuses again on the ruling of the Rome court which denied the detention of the migrants: “I consider it unreasonable because it does not only concern the issue of Albania, but all illegal immigrants arriving from certain nations”. And he specifies: “The judges refer to a ruling of the European Court but the non-validations of the detention of illegal immigrants began much earlier. The question of Albania is instrumentalI think that the sentence is dictated by a very different vision from that of the government”, he concluded.

In the dialogue with director Cerno, the government leader then touched on many different points and topics: from the floods that hit Emilia Romagna to the budget law, up to the upcoming regional elections. Here are some key phrases during the conversation that took place in the National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome.

Bad weather

“I will listen to the mayor of Bologna”, confirmed Meloni, who recommended greater unity after the flood that hit the Emilian capital. “Dividing ourselves is not intelligent, we will continue to face these emergencies, we will have to find structural solutions and we can only do this if institutional levels act together”.

Maneuver

The speech focuses on the hottest topics: healthcare, superbonus, pensions. “If money hadn’t been thrown out the window for things that had no impact and weren’t a priority, today we would have resources to do the priority things that the left, which spent money on non-priority things, is asking us to do today and which he did not do when he governed, he said, referring to the superbonus. And again: “We have not increased the minimum pensions – explained the prime minister – and we have not increased the resources as we would have liked for healthcare because in 2025 we have to pay 38 billion euro of Superbonus which was used to renovate less than 4% of Italians’ homes, especially second ones. If we hadn’t had these 38 billion we could have increased the minimum pensions by 20 thousand euros for each minimum pensioner.”

Liguria

On the outcome of the regional elections in Liguria, Meloni confesses that he is “quite optimistic” but “I don’t like talking about these things beforehand, for a superstitious reason. The fact that no one is talking about it makes me think well and I want to thank Marco Bucci for accepting this candidacy. I considered the attacks shameful for having nominated himself despite his illness. I think he made a very courageous choice: none of us knows how much time he has available, the difference is how you spend this time.” Then he adds: “Democracy is always a testthe citizens’ response is sacred: I don’t have double standards, if I win it was a national test, if I lose it was a region that doesn’t count for anything”.

The anniversary and the ‘aggressive’ conscience

After two years in government “I am at peace with my conscience, which is an aggressive ‘girl’. I couldn’t have put in more effort, worked harder. I soon understood that Giorgia’s rights and the duties of the prime minister are incompatible. There were a lot of sacrifices but I think it was worth it.” For this reason, with a joke, he jokes: “One thing I wouldn’t do again? Maybe I wouldn’t run again… No, I’m joking”.