When, shortly after the leaders' working lunch on the sunny Tivat seafront, the organizers of the EU-Balkans summit called their cameramen together for the mandatory photo opportunity, the suspicion among reporters became certain: Giorgia Meloni had withdrawn from the summit. Only a few minutes later, Palazzo Chigi confirmed that, given the prolongation of her mission in Calabria, Meloni had "regretfully" decided to skip a summit that—the government, not surprisingly, emphasized—would have ended at 3:30 PM. It's likely not just a matter of schedule and agenda organization. Meloni's withdrawal appears almost like a direct signal—European diplomatic circles reason—to two leaders in particular, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz . Both have been very active in recent days on the Western Balkans front. Both, along with Keir Starmer, are organizers of Sunday's summit in London with Volodymyr Zelensky.

The Tivat summit, a sort of Montenegrin-style Saint Tropez disrupted by the arrival of EU leaders, had been scheduled for some time and had been described by the EU as a "turning point" in the integration process of the Western Balkans, especially Montenegro and Albania. Italy has been extremely attentive to this area for years and, even in the hours leading up to the summit, continued to maintain the line it has taken so far in EU forums: the accession of Ukraine and Moldova cannot be separated from that of the Balkan countries ready to join the Union. For this reason, too, the news of Meloni's withdrawal from Tivat was greeted with some surprise by those present, starting with the Montenegrin hosts and the EU leaders. A matter of agenda? Up to a point. This morning, Meloni attended the ceremony celebrating the 212th anniversary of the foundation of the Carabinieri in Reggio Calabria. Its protracted delay, Palazzo Chigi explains, is among the reasons for the cancellation. Yet, immediately afterward, Meloni chose not to travel to the Reggio Calabria airport to take off for Tivat. Instead, she went to the Prefecture to attend the postmarking of a stamp commemorating the anniversary of the Carabinieri. The appointment had not been included in the Prime Minister's agenda.

In short, it's not just Calabria that we need to look at, but also the maneuvers of Merz and Macron to decipher Meloni's choice . Starting, for example, with the document presented Thursday by Berlin and Paris in favor of a gradual but accelerated integration of the Balkan countries . The non-paper explains that these countries should be granted observer status for European meetings, pending their actual entry into the EU. But Merz and Macron's activism didn't stop there. Arriving in Tivat, the French president explained that he was "in close coordination" with London and Berlin on the Ukrainian issue, called a new summit of the Willing for July 14, Bastille Day in France, and announced a forthcoming meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky. When? In London, on Sunday, in an E3 format, which also includes Starmer. This meeting across the Channel will effectively replace the one planned for June in Berlin, but with Warsaw and Rome also at the table.

Well-informed government sources attribute Meloni's irritation to sophisticated gossip and urge "not to chase conspiracy theories." Yet, the feeling is that in recent days, things have moved forward without Italian involvement. Not surprisingly, Meloni's absence in Montenegro has triggered a frontal attack from the opposition, who speak of an "isolated" Italy. "She's insulting Merz and Macron, and displays adolescent behavior," emphasizes Matteo Renzi. "Her absence in Tivat is a punch in the stomach," insist the Democratic Party. "Was Salvini piloting her plane? Is it possible that Italy has sunk so low?" asks M5S leader Giuseppe Conte sarcastically. While Italy's stance on the Balkans has caused surprise, Italy's certain distancing from the Volenterosi front would confirm the government's doubts about a format that—it is noted—has so far failed to produce concrete results , in a situation that remains stalemate. Regardless of whether negotiations are finalized, which still seems far off, Rome believes the prominence of other countries would prevent it from identifying a profile that could speak for all of Europe.

(Unioneonline)

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