Meloni rebuffs Pd misogyny charge and attacks opposition ahead of EU summit

Replies in the Chamber

On 14 October 2026 Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni replied in the Chamber of Deputies after a general debate on her communications ahead of the European Council. Her main target was Democratic Party deputy Giuseppe Provenzano, who had asked what she meant when she said she had not attended a certain summit because Donald Trump did not flatter her. Meloni rejected the idea that she had got where she is through flattery, pointing instead to 35 years in politics, her willingness to fight for her ideas and the consent of citizens. She then turned on the left, accusing it of a misogyny that she said had kept women from reaching the positions they deserved. Addressing former Chamber president Laura Boldrini directly, she said the debate needed to face that problem.

Ukraine and the governing majority

Meloni told Provenzano that the problems over support for Ukraine were not hers but those of the Democratic Party and its allies, and she suggested he direct that message to the parties on the benches of the Five Star Movement. She said her government had held a clear position on Ukraine for four years and that the majority was united before it took any particular stance. On X, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked her for her support and for what he called a clear, unequivocal and principled position. In the post he said she had understood who the aggressor is, and that a lasting peace could only rest on strength and joint efforts to guarantee security.

Clashes with the opposition in the Senate

In her Senate replies, Meloni answered a Five Star Movement senator and said the insults from that side covered a lack of solutions.

Every time I come into this chamber, all I hear from you are insults and attempts to ridicule the work we are trying to do.

She added that voters were not reassured by what she called a fight in the mud. On electoral law, she told the M5S that under the new rules parties must declare their alliances, prime ministerial candidate and programme before the vote, and argued that the M5S leader, Giuseppe Conte, could not have become prime minister had those rules existed earlier. Replying to Democratic senator Annamaria Furlan on the former Ilva steel plant in Taranto, she said she was sure the opposition had better solutions and asked why they had not put them forward while in government. On the steps of Palazzo Madama, Lega Senate group leader Massimiliano Romeo had mingled with reporters, and Meloni teased him with a smile: 'Have you switched to the competition?'

Gaza and the European Council

Meloni also addressed Gaza in the Senate, calling for urgent action on the humanitarian situation.

The situation in Gaza remains dramatic. More aid is needed, and it is needed quickly.

She called for a political initiative to test whether Hamas is genuinely willing to lay down its arms, which she said would open the way to reconstruction for the civilian population. Looking ahead to the European Council of 15 and 16 October, she framed Italy's position in terms of national interest.

For years we were told that, to count in Europe, Italy had to give up defending its interests. We have shown the opposite.

She said she would go to Brussels with the same pride and determination, and that Italy would make itself heard wherever Europe's future was decided.