Meloni calls for a confederal EU and national sovereignty

Meloni calls for a confederal EU that preserves national sovereignty

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on August 12 that the European Union should adopt a confederal model preserving the broad sovereignty of member states. Meloni said she would not form alliances with political forces that oppose support for Ukraine’s defense, and called for political action on concerns over identity, irregular migration and Islamization.

Scraper SystemSeptember 12, 2026, 09:36 PM

Meloni calls for a confederal EU that preserves national sovereignty

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni advocated a confederal model for the future of the European Union that would preserve the broad sovereignty of member states while enabling more effective cooperation on strategic issues.

Meloni rejected the view that Europe should move toward deeper political integration. In an interview with the Italian newspaper Il Foglio on August 12, she said she had long supported a confederal model for Europe alongside the European conservative movement.

She opposed the idea of a federal Europe

Meloni said the European Union’s current functioning was insufficient to address the fundamental challenges of the era and argued that the bloc needed to change its approach. However, she said the solution was not to deepen political integration, abolish unanimity in decision-making or establish a federal Europe that goes beyond nation-states.

With this position, Meloni made clear that she disagreed with former Italian Prime Minister and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi’s assessment that the European Union’s future depended on a transition to a more federal structure.

Her position on support for Ukraine

The Italian prime minister said she would not form alliances with political forces that voted against support for Ukraine’s defense. Meloni said she would not change her political position to secure the support of any party, gain an electoral advantage or serve personal interests, emphasizing that she would make no concessions on this issue.

Political debates in Europe

Assessing the rising popularity of Germany’s Alternative for Germany party, Meloni said political movements in Europe were focusing on concerns over identity, combating irregular migration and Islamization.

Meloni argued that Europe’s political establishments should address these issues at their core without resorting to political isolation, saying that such matters could not be managed solely through political “cordons sanitaires.”

Meloni calls for a confederal EU that preserves national sovereignty