EU Council, Meloni and Tajani are pushing for common defense with Eurobonds but the decisions are postponed until after the European Championships

Giorgia Meloni arrives at the Eurobuilding without making any statements. The Prime Minister left in Rome the waste of the parliamentary confrontation, the photo published on websites around the world which portrays her the day before in the Chamber while pretending to hide under her jacket, and also the tensions with Matteo Salvini despite the dramatic embrace in favor of the cameras. Lunch awaits you in Brussels with the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and the other Heads of State and Government of the Union which preceded the start of the European Council which once again has the first points on the agenda the discussion on the Middle Eastern crisis and the war in Ukraine.

The common defense

The central theme of this summit, however, is above all common defense which the expansion of the theaters of war and the prospect of a new Russian offensive have placed at the top of the priorities. The crucial point (but not the only one) remains that of financing. Meloni spoke in Parliament about “innovative solutions”. Antonio Tajani makes the Italian line explicit. “We believe in Europe. We are staunchly pro-European and believe that a European Defense is needed to have a stronger European foreign policy and issuing Eurobonds to finance it seems like a good idea to me”, said the Foreign Minister, underlining that it would also provide a greater “balance within of NATO”.

The resistance of the “frugal”

The resistance of the frugal remains strong at the moment regarding the prospect of covering military expenses and not only through the issuance of common debt. “They also need defense, we will compete. But we have good reasons and we will assert them”, is the belief of Tajani also in the Belgian capital for the Italian States General which brings together the entire leadership of the European institutions and NATO. However, it is unlikely that an operational solution will be reached from the top. The draft conclusions speak generically of “exploring all options for mobilizing funds”. It means that the possibility of resorting to Eurobonds is not excluded.

Decision postponed

In any case, the decision is postponed until after the vote on 8-9 June. The election campaign advised leaders to avoid clashes at this stage. In fact, together with the issue of financing there is also that of the transfer or otherwise of sovereignty. Beyond the financial effort, there is in fact the need to coordinate, pool and manage systems that do not currently communicate with each other.