The day after… the European elections and a few days before the G7 summit in Puglia, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was the only leader of a major EU country to emerge and be strengthened from the vote. Her party, Fratelli d’Italia (ECR), won 28.8% of the vote, an increase from 26% in the 2022 general election, which confirms its first place in Italy.

“Italy is heading to the G7 and the upcoming European negotiations with the strongest government of all, which is both a satisfying and a great responsibility”, commented PM Meloni. President Macron called for early elections in France after his party’s disastrous performance. Chancellor Scholz’s SPD in Germany is the third-largest party after the CDU/CSU and AfD. The UK will hold a general election on July 4, with Starmer’s Labour Party currently ahead of outgoing Prime Minister Sunak’s Conservatives in opinion polls.