Meloni to visit Athens, discuss stability pact, migration
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will pay a working visit to Athens on Thursday.
Meloni will meet with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis for a working dinner and, according to government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis, bilateral and regional issues and European agenda issues will be discussed. The dinner is scheduled at 7 p.m.
Italian sources stressed to news site Naftemporiki that Meloni aims to call for the formation of a front with Greece and other countries of the European South for the non-return of the strict rules of the Stability Pact.
“A possible return of the old Stability Pact rules would be a very negative prospect that would seriously endanger the development of the countries of the South is the clear message that the Italian government has already sent to Brussels,” the same sources said.
The pact stipulates that countries must reduce their public debt by one-twentieth each year so that it does not reach 60% of GDP and keep the public deficit below 3% of GDP. If this is not done, consequences and sanctions will be enforced.
Following the pandemic breakout, the European Commission triggered the Stability and Growth Pact’s suspension clause.
