Times lauds Meloni 'common sense', says popularity solid

(ANSA) - ROME, MAR 29 - British daily the Times on Wednesday hailed the "common sense" of Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni and said her domestic popularity was steadily above that of other Italian leaders while her international credibility had been boosted by her firm stance in support of Ukraine.
    In a piece by Rome correspondent Tom Kington titled "Italy sweetens to its honeymoon prime minister", the Times said "Giorgia Meloni's nous has surprised critics and made her the country's most popular politician".
    It said the 46-year-old Roman had been "billed by opponents before her election last September as an unpredictable far-right renegade" but stressed that "few had predicted she would stay solid on Ukraine, pass a prudent budget and tone down the Brussels bashing that defined her career before she took power." Kington also noted that "Her behaviour in office has confused those for whom her fascist roots (her party, Brothers of Italy, evolved from Italy's post-war fascist MSI party) are the be all and end all." But he added: "the jury is still out. Last week Meloni honoured the victims of a 1944 massacre in Nazi-occupied Rome. She recalled 335 "innocent Italians slaughtered simply because they were Italian", prompting accusations she was glossing over how the victims were anti-fascists picked out with the help of Italian fascists.
    The Times corespondent also said that there was trouble in store for Italy's first woman premier: "Meloni's big problems are brewing outside Italy, starting in increasingly unstable and autocratic Tunisia, where by her estimate 900,000 people may try to set sail for Italy if the country does not get a quick World Bank bailout. Italy has lost most of its influence in Libya since the country descended into chaos and became a stepping off point for thousands of migrants. Meloni's nightmare is that Tunisia is next.
    "Her demands that Europe redistributes migrants arriving in Italy — 27,000 this year so far — face opposition. Leaders such as Mark Rutte of the Netherlands say Italy has been letting migrants slip into northern Europe for years. Meloni will not get much sympathy from her two close allies in Europe, Hungary and Poland, which outdo her for anti-migrant rhetoric." But all in all, Kington said, Meloni's performance and results so far have been suprising: "In a country where post-election honeymoons can be over in the blink of an eye, Meloni is making hers last. She remains comfortably Italy's most popular politician, thanks to a political nous that has surprised detractors. Given what's ahead, she's going to need it." (ANSA).