Meloni calls for budget flexibility in the EU due to inflation

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni stated that they requested more flexibility in the budget rules from the European Union (EU) due to the effect of rising energy prices on a global scale on inflation, and said that this request is not arbitrary and that countries will have to spend billions of euros additionally from their budgets.

Meloni, who attended the summit of the "MED9" group, consisting of 9 countries in the south of the EU, held in Split, Croatia, made a statement at the press conference.

Answering the question about Italy's request for more budget flexibility from the EU due to inflation, Meloni said:

"We do not demand unlimited spending at will. However, it is necessary to take into account that our budgets will have an additional burden of billions of euros that we will have to spend even though we have not taken any decision. We believe that this should be evaluated objectively within the limits of the permitted increase in spending."

Emphasizing that they brought up the impact of increasing inflation on national budgets, Meloni said, "Today's inflation is not the 1.8 percent predicted 3 years ago. Today, it is much higher, and I guess this automatically leads to higher costs for all member countries."

Meloni also stated that there was intense focus on the eastern flank of Europe during this period due to the Russia-Ukraine War, and stated that the importance of the southern flank of Europe should not be ignored.