Already in July, in the first phase of the Government crisis, the president of Copasir (parliamentary control body on the secret services), Adolfo Urso had asked and obtained from the president of the Senate, Maria Elisabetta Casellati, to continue the work program already set with hearings and missions abroad to "defend" the national interest in a delicate phase of Italian politics increasingly conditioned by a geopolitical posture and by the different international alignments in the Russian-Ukrainian crisis.
The one in the States was supposed to be the most important mission on paper, seasoned with a busy program of meetings with think tanks and representatives of the US administration for the express purpose of clear to the American authorities the image of the leader of her own party, Giorgia Meloni (winning date in the polls at the next elections) and guarantee its absolute fidelity to the values of Atlanticism.
All good until the god bomb went off Russian loans (300 million dollars) to political forces in about twenty countries, according to a US intelligence report. From some statements (later denied) it seemed that there were also Italian political forces among the beneficiaries.
It was two in the morning on Wednesday 14 September in Italy when the intelligence authority, Undersecretary Gabrielli and Dis Director Elisabetta Belloni, picked up the phone to immediately ask for clarification from their American colleagues. With which, it seems, the tones have not always been marked by kindness.
Russian money in Madagascar, Monenegro, Albania and Ecuador
From the first information Italy would not appear on the list of recipient countries of Russian money. According to the American press, there are certainly Madagascar, Albania, Montenegro and perhaps Ecuador. Eleven days after the elections, thoughts immediately turned to the preferential relations (and still not fully clarified) between Salvini's League and the Kremlin authorities. In addition to the Putinians like Marine Le Pen and Hungarian Orban, you would be among the beneficiaries also Jimmie Akesson, leader of the Swedish Democrats and ally of the Brothers of Italy in the European Parliament.
Urso: From the first news, Italy is not on the list
To throw water on the fire also thought about it President of Copasir, Adolfo Urso: expected to return to Italy today, he is already ready to convene a hearing of Gabrielli for tomorrow, waiting for the US secretary of state Antony Blinken to clarify the whole matter to the Italian government. "From the news provided to me by the delegated Authority which, in turn, had immediately informed itself through the official channels, it would not appear that there is Italy“, said the president of Copasir. Until yesterday Urso was in Washington for a series of meetings in the Senate and the State Department. He explained that the committee “will meet with the hearing of undersecretary Gabrielli and, in that meeting, we will verify if we already have other news. We will see in the next few hours: only in the face of documents and where there are specific indications will we take initiatives such as Copasir ".
Fdi: never had relations with Russia. Ticket from Volker to Urso
Urso, however, was keen to clarify that Fdi has never had relations with Russia. “Fratelli d'Italia has zero connections to Russia", he wrote the former American ambassador to NATO, Kurt Volker, in a note sent to the president of Copasir while he was visiting Washington. "Volker authorized me to reveal the contents of the note that he wrote to me," said Urso after the controversy that arose from some statements that Volker allegedly released to the Italian media.
Urso: American appreciation for Meloni's foreign policy
But Urso had to above all pave the way for Meloni to win in the US e vouch for his Atlantic allegiance. “I took great interest in Giorgia Meloni's foreign policy program – he said – and full agreement on the main international dossiers: support for Ukraine, cooperation for energy security, joint action to face Russian and Chinese expansionism in the Mediterranean and In Africa. Relations between Italy and the United States are increasingly solid”.
Di Maio: US services reports could be more than one
While waiting for Blinken's clarifications, there are many points that remain to be clarified. For example, claims the Foreign Minister, Luigi Di Maio, US intelligence report on Russian funds to European parties “may not be one. I say this because President Urso also makes a very cautious statement – continues Di Maio – He says 'at the moment', speaking of the dossier they have viewed, in which there is no news on Italy”.
