GIORGIA MELONI: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
- Between this image and this one, half a year has passed.
How can we assess the first six months
of Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni who
came to power in Italy at the helm of a political party
with neofascist roots?
She initially promised she would step away
from Europe while singing the praises of God,
the fatherland, and family.
GIORGIA MELONI: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
CECILIA SOTTILOTTA: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
- Her previous position on Italy's sovereignty
is a distant memory.
In fact, Italy's relationship with the European Union
is a priority as the country depends on Brussels
for its subsidies and grants.
On a domestic front, Meloni has managed
to deliver on electoral promises and align
with her far-right profile.
For starters, she's the first female prime minister,
but insists that people use the masculine form of her title
when referring to her.
The country's universal minimum income will
end this summer as promised.
Other measures include a law against the organizers
of rave parties, blocking LGBTQ plus couples from registering
their children in the civil registry, and a tax on NGOs
providing assistance to immigrants.
CECILIA SOTTILOTTA: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
- In the last six months, Meloni has discovered her worst
enemies are not members of the opposition,
but instead are among her own allies in the coalition
government, Matteo Salvini's Lega
and Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia with whom
she won 44% of the vote.
CECILIA SOTTILOTTA: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
- The economic winds are also blowing in Meloni's favor,
which she now faces the challenge of managing what
is the third largest economy in the eurozone,
but also the one with some of the largest
debt second only to Greece.
On the domestic front, another major challenge
is the low birth rate.
Her government has promised no taxes
on those who have children.
Whether or not she can deliver remains to be seen.
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