Meloni visits Eicma in Milan, calls motorcycle sector part of Made in Italy

Visit to the Milan show

Giorgia Meloni arrived at Rho Fiera on 6 November to visit the 83rd edition of Eicma, the international two-wheeler exhibition that runs until Sunday 8 November. Paolo Magri, Eicma's chief executive, and Giovanni Bozzetti, president of Fondazione Fiera Milano, received her. She was also accompanied by Pietro Meda, Eicma's president, Matteo Zoppas, president of Agenzia Ice, and Mariano Roman, president of Confindustria Ancma. La Stampa reports that the tour started at the main entrance and went directly to the stands of Italian motorcycle makers.

Tour of the stands

Meloni visited the stands of Ducati, Piaggio and Aprilia before she was due to greet representatives of the army and the police forces. She was accompanied by Carlo Fidanza, a member of the European Parliament. Speaking to reporters during the visit, she placed the sector inside the wider story of Italian manufacturing.

“This sector is part of the story of Made in Italy, because Italy is clearly among the main producers and among the most appreciated.”

She added that it was right for the fair to stay in Italy, and she credited this year's edition with figures that had never been seen before. She also said she wanted the institutions to pay attention to a sector that brings great satisfaction. Adnkronos listed the event's leadership alongside her, including the presidents of Agenzia Ice and Confindustria Ancma.

Campaign and politics

La Stampa frames the visit as part of the campaign for the general elections due next year, and says the campaign has already started for all parties. The paper links the visit to Roberto Vannacci, a general whose Futuro Nazionale party it says is seeing its polls fall. Vannacci had visited the Rho stands on 3 November, and the paper says Meloni arrived at Eicma after Matteo Salvini. Asked when the country would go to the polls, Meloni hit back at the question and said the press was fixated on the date while she kept working.

“You have this fixation with the vote, but I am working.”

On fuel prices, she said the cost of petrol is a dossier she is working on. Her words to reporters on that topic were direct.

“We are working on it, on few things do I work as I do on this.”

Ukraine and the European Council

Meloni said Antonio Costa, president of the European Council, had answered her letter asking that the EU speak with one voice on Ukraine. According to her, Costa wrote that he would find room for the discussion at the informal European Council in Dublin. She thanked him and said his letter stated that he understood and shared the need to open this debate. Meloni described her request as a pragmatic question on which many colleagues agree, and said she hopes a solution can be found.