“I don’t regret my closeness to President Trump at the beginning of his second term. I was defending our national interests. It was a stance that was particularly useful and appreciated by many European countries,” Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said.

Speaking to Rai journalist Bruno Vespa about his forthcoming book, Meloni added that her approach “helped keep transatlantic dialogue open — even during periods of greater misunderstanding — as well as bringing NATO dialogue back to the appropriate level.”

“I also had a good relationship with Biden, but I was criticized for that, too,” Meloni stressed.

Finally, referring to her country’s fiscal situation, the Italian prime minister said that while, according to the Italian National Institute of Statistics (Istat), the public deficit-to-GDP ratio stands at around 3.08%, “the major credit rating agencies and reputable economic research institutes have confirmed that this ratio is reportedly already below 3%.”