Meloni defends 9.4 billion euro university budget and launches European youth alliance in Rome

Clash over university funding

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni addressed the closing session of the Fenix youth festival in Rome on Sunday morning, focusing a significant portion of her remarks on opposition criticism regarding education spending. Meloni rejected statements made by Democratic Party leader Elly Schlein, who had accused the government of cutting university budgets and opening the sector to private interests. Meloni stated that the ordinary university financing fund stands at 9.4 billion euros, representing a 25% increase compared to 2019. She pointed out that the fund was at 8.4 billion euros when her cabinet took office, arguing that the figures contradict claims of spending reductions. The prime minister challenged Schlein to present factual criticisms rather than unfounded allegations.

How could we have cut universities if today the fund is at 9.4 billion and when we arrived it was 8.4?

Address to party youth movements

Meloni opened her speech at the Laghetto dell'Eur venue in Rome with informal remarks, comparing her morning address to an unwelcome mathematics test after a late evening. She addressed attendees representing Gioventù Nazionale, Azione Universitaria, and Azione Studentesca, praising their involvement across the five days of discussions. Meloni expressed strong pride in the grassroots activists, noting that reports of their participation reached her while traveling abroad. The fifth edition of the festival, held under the slogan The time of courage, featured debates with cabinet ministers, parliamentarians, local administrators, and journalists beneath a marquee bearing the party's flame symbol.

A great participation, a compelling program, courageous debates. As courageous as those who are proud of what they are doing can afford to be. You are not afraid of anyone, because that is what was taught in this world, in this environment, and that is what you have known how to give continuity to.

Cabinet representation and domestic debate

Before Meloni took the stage, Minister of Agriculture Francesco Lollobrigida addressed the audience on the government's record and broader political identity. Lollobrigida praised Meloni's position as Italy's first female prime minister, observing that international observers often express surprise that the milestone was achieved by a right-wing leader. He stated that the political friction surrounding her leadership will remain a prominent topic during forthcoming electoral campaigns. The festival served as a broader showcase for the ruling party's policy agenda, bringing together senior officials to discuss governance and institutional priorities.

Giorgia Meloni has changed and is changing our nation. The first female prime minister in Italy. When you say that in other nations they look at you bewildered. For a woman to reach government took many years, and she is a woman of the right.

European youth conservative alliance

The gathering also marked the formal establishment of the European Young Conservatives (EYC), an international youth network affiliated with the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) Party. The new platform unites 16 youth organizations across 15 European nations to coordinate cross-border political initiatives. ECR Party President Adam Bielan and Secretary-General Antonio Giordano attended the launch to endorse the initiative. Former Gioventù Nazionale international secretary Maicol Pizzicotti Busilacchi was designated president of the EYC, while Aleksandra Mazur-Groszkowska of Poland's PiS Youth was named secretary-general, reflecting continued collaboration between Italian and Polish conservative groups.