Meloni playing three-card monte on ESM - Schlein

(see related story) (ANSA) - ROME, DEC 11 - Centre-left Democratic Party (PD) Secretary Elly Schlein lost no time in replying to Premier Giorgia Meloni on Monday after she asked her why no one had activated the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) bailout fund, the approval of whose reform treaty has pitted Rome against its EU allies.
    "Giorgia Meloni is playing three-card monte," said Schlein.
    "She is too busy defending an indefensible budget and has forgotten the facts," she continued referring to the 2024 budget bill currently before parliament.
    "First: the object of discussion is not the activation of the ESM but the ratification of the treaty amending it.
    "Second: 26 out of 27 countries have already ratified the changes. These are countries governed by coalitions of all political hues.
    "Third: only Italy is holding out, because the right wing is a prisoner of its own ideological propaganda," said Schlein.
    Italy is the only country not to have ratified the new ESM treaty amid concerns about budget sovereignty and claims the fund should also be used for growth.
    The government has also said on several occasions that first it wants to know what fiscal rules the country will be operating under, based on the outcome of negotiations for the European Stability and Growth Pact still underway in Brussels. (ANSA).