ASSESSMENTS

What Italy's Foreign Policy Will Look Like Under New Rulers

Jun 18, 2018 | 17:31 GMT

Giuseppe Conte addresses journalists after a meeting with Italian President Sergio Mattarella on May 27 in Rome. Conte was subsequently named prime minister.

Giuseppe Conte addresses journalists after a meeting with Italian President Sergio Mattarella in Rome on May 27, four days before becoming prime minister. Italy's new government will demand change on issues such as migration and Russian sanctions in its dealings with Brussels.

(VINCENZO PINTO/AFP/Getty Images)

Highlights

  • The new Italian government will push for a rapprochement with Russia, which will make the EU sanctions regime against Moscow increasingly harder to sustain.
  • While Rome has pledged to remain committed to NATO, it could withdraw from some foreign operations and cut defense spending.
  • Italy will push to redesign EU migration rules, even as a comprehensive overhaul of the Dublin system remains elusive.
  • Rome's critical view of free trade agreements could result in Italy vetoing future deals between the European Union and other blocs or countries.

The new government in Italy has promised a break with the past. But while the administration in Rome has explained its program to overhaul the economy in some detail, its plans for foreign policy remain comparatively vague. Nonetheless, from Russia to trade to migration -- one of the country's biggest issues -- Italy's new leaders have demands that could ruffle some feathers, both on the Continent and across the Atlantic....

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