Meloni and the Europeans: «We will do everything possible to bring the parties back to dialogue»

Doing "everything possible". Although it is still not clear what the margins are for the resumption of a "diplomatic" initiative, in order for "the parties to return to dialogue," Giorgia Meloni has made it known that the government is doing its utmost. The war in the Middle East, triggered by American and Israeli operations against Iran, frightens public opinion across half of Europe, and the prime minister is already making her voice heard early in the morning, via social media, to assure that the government's attention is at its highest. Just as the effort for "coordination" with the main European partners is at its maximum, sealed by a call in the E4 format (Italy, France, Germany, Great Britain), which she herself, it is reported, had discussed with Friederich Merz and which took place in the afternoon to take stock with the countries that have the most relations, interests, and nationals in the Gulf area.

Even on the seventh day since the start of hostilities - which the prime minister spends at Palazzo Chigi before moving to Verona for the opening ceremony of the Paralympics with President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella - it has been filled with contacts. And reflections on the risks of escalation and the impact of the conflict on public perception. Attention is being paid to the polls, commissioned even in the last few hours, which show a strong detachment of citizens regarding Donald Trump's offensive. Unlike that in Ukraine, they reason in the center-right, this war "the Italians do not understand and do not want." A not insignificant variable for those who have relied heavily so far on the relationship with Washington and must soon face the referendum test.

Before the call with Merz, Emmanuel Macron, and Keir Starmer, Meloni speaks with Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Meanwhile, to convey to Turkey, "Italy's strategic partner and NATO ally", Italian solidarity after the "unjustified missile attack" of recent days. And then to assess the developments of a regional situation that, no one in the Italian government hides, greatly concerns neighboring Europe.

The global impact of the crisis is what is then analyzed in the E4 format. A call that Rome would have urged, and which is an opportunity to exchange mutual information, mutual impressions, also in light of the constant updates with the various Middle Eastern actors. We must work together for "diplomacy and military coordination", Downing Street informs after the call, emphasizing the "coordination in the Strait of Hormuz" and the "concern" for the situation in Lebanon. The four condemn "the serious attacks by Iran" but there are no mentions, at least publicly, of the United States and Israel. Nor are there any judgments, because now is the time to put into play "pragmatism and concreteness", they summarize at the higher levels of government.

The prime minister has so far carefully avoided going into detail, except for having repeatedly denounced the risk of chaos if multilateralism is abandoned (a process triggered, in her reasoning, by the Russian aggression against Ukraine). Even Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has skirted the topic in recent days (the Italian position "is the European one") and only Guido Crosetto has stated without sugarcoating the concept, that the intervention in Iran has occurred "outside international law".

But it is not the heart of the conversation among the 4 European leaders - who have different sensitivities on the matter - that focuses not only on military coordination (at the level of chiefs of staff) but also on the operations of repatriation from the Gulf, on the management of embassies. Rome has transferred its embassy in Iran to Azerbaijan, but diplomatic relations "are not interrupted", Tajani reiterates. And we are working "tirelessly together with our main partners and allies, to support any initiative that can lead to a return to diplomacy", assures the prime minister.