Italy's Meloni vows to put national energy interests first

ROME (AP) — Far-right leader Giorgia Meloni, who is poised to become Italy’s next premier, vowed Saturday to put national interests first in tackling soaring energy costs as she made her first public outing since her Brothers of Italy party won the most votes in the country's national election.

Meloni's address to farmers and producers at an agricultural fair in Milan came as Russia's Gazprom utility informed gas giant ENI that no natural gas would be delivered to Italy on Saturday, further tightening supplies as Moscow seeks to pressure Europe in its war against Ukraine.

Meloni has strongly backed Ukraine, and one of her first post-victory tweets was in response to a congratulatory note from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “You know that you can count on our loyal support for the cause of freedom of Ukrainian people!” she wrote on Sept. 27.

Her outing Saturday to the Coldiretti farm lobby fair marked her emergence from a week of closed-door meetings with allies and the outgoing government following the Sept. 25 vote that is poised to give Italy its first far-right-led government since World War II.

Much of those talks concerned high energy costs and the EU's response after Germany announced it would spend up to 200 billion euros ($195 billion) helping consumers and businesses cope while refusing to back a European price cap on gas, as Italy and other countries have sought.

Meloni said if her government takes a similar action, it shouldn't be seen as some populist, nationalist reaction but rather a “lucid” strategy to “defend national interests to arrive at common solutions.”

“Italy’s posture must return to start off with the defense of its national interests to find common solutions,” Meloni told the farmers in Milan.

Since invading Ukraine in February,...