(Bloomberg) — Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has signaled support for the European Union’s shared debt for defense investments crucial to supporting the war in Ukraine, ahead of a summit starting in Brussels on Thursday.
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“I think a debate is needed to come up with innovative solutions that would pave the way for the possibility of European bonds,” Meloni told Italian parliamentarians on Wednesday.
The use of common issuance has met resistance from Germany and its allies, and a debate on the issue is likely to be off the table when the bloc’s leaders meet this week.
The conversation will instead focus on trade tensions with China and the US, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and how the EU’s top jobs might be filled after elections earlier this month.
Meloni will take his seat at the table as one of the few leaders boosted by the vote in the European Parliament. According to people familiar with the matter, she has been offered the opportunity to take a senior role in the next European Commission as part of her support for incumbent Commissioner Ursula von der Leyen.
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