Germany updates: Chancellor Merz to meet Italy’s Meloni
New German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will be traveling to Rome to meet with Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni. Meanwhile, the business-focused FDP party has a new leader after a poor election result. DW has more.Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will receive German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Rome on Saturday.
Merz is traveling to the Italian capital on the occasion of the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV on Sunday and will use the opportunity for a bilateral meeting with Meloni on the eve of the event in the Vatican.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (right) will meet with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni following reports that Berlin has dropped Rome as a priorityKay Nietfeld/dpa/picture allianceMore
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to meet with Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni in Rome Police officer in Berlin seriously injured in attack Former minister Christian Lindner bids farewell as business-focused FDP picks new leader
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will receive German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Rome on Saturday.
Merz is traveling to the Italian capital on the occasion of the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV on Sunday and will use the opportunity for a bilateral meeting with Meloni on the eve of the event in the Vatican.
Merz is a member of the conservative Christian Democratic Union party. Meloni is Italy’s first female prime minister since World War II and holds strong conservative views on issues such as migration.
Merz’s visit comes after a media report suggesting that the German government has downgraded the importance of diplomacy with Italy caused a stir in Rome.
On Thursday, the conservative German daily Die Welt reported that an early draft of the new German government’s coalition agreement listed Italy as an important partner and member of an expanded European axis, alongside France and Poland.
