German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrives in Italy and will meet Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in Rome lunch scheduled for Thursday 5 May in Rome. Renzi will also have a meeting on the same day with the president of the EU Commission Jean Claude Juncker on the migration crisis, after Austria announced the construction of a barrier on the Brenner Pass to curb the arrival of refugees, and then between Thursday and Friday also with the President of the European Council Donald Tusk and the President of the EU Parliament Martin Schulz for a seminar on the Union Treaties.
The meeting with Merkel is crucial: the Italian proposals in particular on immigration and growth, as anticipated by Renzi in his e-news. “Thursday and Friday – he writes – intense days of reflection on Europe with the presence in Italy of the main European leaders, from Juncker to Merkel, from Tusk to Schulz and the presentation of the Charlemagne prize to Pope Francis. I intend to seize this opportunity to forcefully relaunch the Italian proposals on immigration and growth. To return strong and authoritative, Europe must radically change its economic policy and strategy with Africa. We are here, ready to do our part ”, he concludes.
On Friday, all the leaders present will then be guests in the Vatican: the occasion is the award ceremony, which will be held at 12, in which Papa Francesco will receive the international Charlemagne award.
