Biden welcomes Meloni of Italy to White House
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Thursday thanked far-right Premier Giorgia Meloni for Italy’s steady backing of Ukraine, offering a warm welcome to the White House to a leader whom his administration viewed with some trepidation when she rose to power last year as the head of Italy’s first far-right-led government since the end of World War II.
Biden administration concerns about her ideology have been eased by her support for Ukraine and her seeming openness to pull back from Italy’s participation in China’s infrastructure-building Belt and Road Initiative. Her visit came as Italy prepares to take up the presidency next year of the Group of Seven industrialized nations.
“Italy and the United States are also standing strong with Ukraine, and I compliment you on your very strong support in defending against Russian atrocities, and that’s what they are,” Biden told Meloni at the start of their Oval Office meeting. “And I thank the Italian people. I want to thank them for supporting you and supporting Ukraine. It makes a big difference.”
Meloni, who was making her first White House visit as premier, said relations between the U.S. and Italy should remain strong “regardless of the political colors” of who is in power in the two countries. She also underscored that with their response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, “Western nations have shown that they can rely on each other.”
“Those who live in peace should be the first supporters of the Ukrainian cause,” Meloni said.
White House officials said the leaders’ agenda was focused on Ukraine and China as well as the stream of migration from North Africa to Europe’s southern shores. More than 1,900 migrants have died or disappeared in the Mediterranean so far this year, bringing the total of dead and missing since 2014 to 27,675, according to the International Organization for Migration.
The Biden administration viewed Meloni’s predecessor, the economist and former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi, as an intellectual force and one of its strongest allies in Europe. Soon after Meloni’s victory in September, Biden warned about the rise of hardright populism in Europe and in the United States.
“You just saw what’s happened in Italy in that election,” Biden said in an address to the Democratic Governors Association after Meloni’s victory. “You’re seeing what’s happening around the world. And the reason I bother to say that is we can’t be sanguine about what’s happening here, either.”
Meloni became Italy’s first far-right leader to serve as premier in Italy’s post-World War II republic after the Brothers of Italy party she co-founded more than a decade ago emerged as the largest vote-getter in the September 2022 elections.
Before the visit, the White House played down Biden’s initial skepticism about Meloni.
“On issues of foreign policy, there’s been a lot of overlapping and mutually reinforcing approaches that we’re taking on with Italy,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said. “Italy is a NATO ally and they are a very competent NATO ally and they’ve been a tremendous supporter of Ukraine.”
Before her White House meeting, Meloni headed to the U.S. Capitol to meet with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell as well as other lawmakers.
In remarks to reporters after meeting McCarthy, Meloni said it remained critical for the West to remain united in helping Ukraine defend its sovereignty.
When Meloni ran for premier, she called for a naval blockade of northern Africa to thwart smugglers’ boats overcrowded with migrants determined to reach Europe’s southern shores. But once in office, she quickly dropped talk of any blockade.