A very busy end to the year, as intense as Antonio Tajani’s activity as Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister, and leader of Forza Italia. He is busy on three fronts, all of them turbulent: the international situation with ongoing conflicts; the budget; his party, under increasing pressure for “change” and “new faces”. He does not reject this pressure, but channels it into a statement: “We are already doing what they are asking for. We have always done it: freedom is our guiding light, including the freedom to choose who should lead Forza Italia, a party that has resisted prophecies of doom and grows election after election. This is the greatest gift we could give to Silvio Berlusconi.”
Let us start with Ukraine: how do you assess the meeting between Trump and Zelensky?
“As Italy, we support the US effort to reach a ceasefire and a definitive end to the conflict. Every step forward towards a just and lasting peace is positive. It seems to me that today (yesterday, ed.) some progress has been made. Let us hope Putin truly wants an end to the conflict.”
In any case, today you will vote on a decree that also provides military aid, despite the League’s opposition.
“It is an absolutely balanced decree, like the previous ones. Italy will continue to support Ukraine militarily, economically, financially, and politically. It will also participate in the great reconstruction phase. We are helping Ukraine because it is a struggle for freedom, for an invaded country that must enjoy a just and lasting peace, which means security for them and for all of Europe.”
Did Forza Italia play a decisive role?
“We are the party of freedom, even in foreign policy. We are in the EPP, we are pro-European, Atlanticist, Christian, liberal; we have these values in our DNA. This does not mean we are at war with the Russian people. Berlusconi, too, voted in the European Parliament against the Russian invasion, saying “I have been disappointed by Putin,” and he was his friend.”
Despite this, the voices of those calling for changes in FI are growing. Occhiuto wants a more liberal policy, Berlusconi’s children insist on renewal, some are suggesting Massimo Doris lead the party… What is going on?
“What happens is that FI is a liberal party with democratic rules. There is a national congress that elects the secretary, as was the case with me. There will be another in 2027. There is a statute, and it must be respected. But what matters when it comes to politics is the content, even before the names.”
Exactly: they are asking you to be more attractive, more effective, more liberal.
“There is no party that is more committed to freedom than ours. Not only did we write a manifesto of our values last September, but we will be holding three demonstrations in mid-January in Milan, Naples, and Rome to demonstrate our values, which we are turning into concrete actions.”
For example?
I can list many battles. Meanwhile, faithful to our idea of a social market economy, we have endeavoured to ensure the freedom of entrepreneurs, without statism. I think of our rejection of the golden power over banks, in the name of the free market. The right for freelancers to have professional social security funds, because we believe in intermediate bodies. The fight to prevent further taxation on housing. Free competition. The rejection of the tax on so-called extra profits, which do not exist: profit comes from free enterprise. These are issues we have wanted to include in the budget law. And the fight for justice is also a fight for freedom.
We might argue that the average Italian is not that interested in these issues.
“But we care about everyone. Reducing taxes on the middle class has always been our fight. Our summer campaign in hospitals to improve healthcare is one such campaign, and even more so in prisons, because the deprivation of a criminal’s liberty must not be a deprivation of dignity. And again: citizenship for foreign students who complete their studies in our country, as well as their integration. The support for the end-of-life legislation, regulated by serious and humane laws”.
Yet they tell you are growing slowly and you need to expand. Could you give up your post to give the situation a boost?
“FI has grown election after election, stimuli and ideas are always positive, but this is the reality. We have new faces, we are open to anyone who wants to be a protagonist. Today we have 250,000 members, a leadership elected by the grassroots; this is a real party.. Then anyone can run for the leadership; whoever gets the most support will win. My goal is to win elections with FI and the centre-right coalition, as well as ensure further five years of good governance. I will commit myself, as I have always done, out of conviction, to defend my ideas. I resigned from RAI to go and work for Montanelli’s newspaper Il Giornale, then from there to build FI with Berlusconi when it was truly a gamble. I have always run for elections with preference voting systems, to be judged by citizens. I never wanted a parachute; I am a free man, I do not depend on a post or a position. And I will not change.”
