Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni addressed the Chamber ahead of the upcoming European Council, focusing on some of the most pressing dossiers on the agenda: from the crisis in the Middle East to the situation in Libya, via common challenges in economics and defense. “The concrete risk,” the PM said, “is that Russia will take advantage of the current instability to strengthen its influence, particularly in Africa and the Mediterranean”. According to Meloni, the dynamic cannot leave the European Union indifferent, as it should instead adopt a more incisive common line. “The eastern and southern parts of Libya today represent the main bridgeheads of Russian military expansion in the African continent,” she continued. “It is therefore crucial that the EU maintains a high level of attention to this scenario, which risks compromising the balance in the Mediterranean”. In her speech, Meloni appealed for European cohesion: "We want to bring this issue to the attention of the Council to ask our partners for more awareness of this dangerous development. Only a united Europe can prevent certain strategic gaps from being occupied by hostile powers". A key passage was also dedicated to the situation in the Gaza Strip: “The goal remains a ceasefire,” she stressed. "Israel has the right to defend itself after a senseless attack, but today that reaction is taking a dramatic and unacceptable turn. We need immediate de-escalation and the resumption of negotiations, including on the Iranian front". Meloni then linked Libyan stability to the management of migratory flows: "Where institutions are weak, criminal networks take root. State fragility favors traffickers and fuels an illegal economy that ends up threatening the security of European citizens". Finally, a direct invitation to the European Union: "Whether it is Libya, Iran or Gaza, the EU must know how to exert its diplomatic weight. We need joint pressure on key international actors to cooperate with the UN without setting conditions. Only in this way will we be able to support effective mediation, overcoming the divisions that, so far, have ended up favoring those working against us”.