Marco Minniti, Italy’s former interior minister: "Meloni is Donald Trump’s door opener in Europe"






Marco Minniti, Italy’s former interior minister, praises him star-Conversation Giorgia Meloni’s good connection to Donald Trump and explains why Meloni is also particularly important for Trump.

Italy’s Prime Minister Meloni was one of the few heads of government at Donald Trump’s inauguration; she had already met Donald Trump in Florida almost two weeks ago. Shortly after this visit, the Italian journalist Cecilia Sala, who was imprisoned in Iran, was released. In return, Italy had to release an Iranian businessman who was wanted by the USA with an international arrest warrant for smuggling weapons for the Revolutionary Guard. A few days later, the German-Iranian Mariam Claren was released from the same Tehran prison – apparently without anything in return.

Mr. Minniti, Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni negotiated a worse deal than the federal government?
No. When someone’s life is in danger, the government must do everything it can to save that person and bring them home. In the case of Cecilia Sala, Meloni did the right thing by contacting the Iranian president. The journalist’s return was Meloni’s personal success.

After taking office as President of the United States, Donald Trump once again sent clear words to Europe and how he envisions trade in the future.

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How did she manage to do that?
The negotiations took place between three countries: Italy, Iran and the USA. It was important not to offend the USA. And that succeeded. It was difficult because the USA is currently in a transition phase from the Biden administration to the new President Trump. Meloni had to include both of them. That’s why Meloni traveled to Trump in Florida to talk to him about the release.

Middle East and Libya expert: Marco Minniti was Italian Interior Minister from 2016 to 2018, and before that his country's intelligence coordinator

© TONINO SGRO’ for star

Marco Minniti, born in 1956, was Interior Minister (2016 – 2018) and intelligence coordinator in Italy and is a proven expert on security policy in the Middle East and North Africa. In 2017, on behalf of Rome, he managed to forge a pact between the Libyan government in Tripoli and 60 tribal representatives, which stemmed the migration flows towards Europe and stopped many Mediterranean smugglers. Today Minniti serves as president of the Italian think tank “MedOr”which deals with the topics of defense, security policy and intelligence services. Minniti is married to the musician Mariangela Sera and lives in Rome and Calabria

Has Trump Meloni given the green light to let the Iranian terrorist suspect go free in Milan?
No. But he didn’t oppose it. That’s a subtle difference. Trump was able to take this stance because he was not yet in office. It was a bit like Meloni was asking Trump for advice or his opinion. The fact that Trump was not yet in office made things much easier for him. That’s why it was so important for Italy to reach a solution before the official change of government on January 20th.

What was astonishing was that the Iranians let their Italian hostage go before the in Italy imprisoned Iranians were released.
If the Iranians hadn’t gotten involved, it would have been much more difficult. Mohammad Abedini, the Iranian terror suspect, was only released four days after her. On Tehran’s part, this was a huge sign of trust in Italy.

A deal between Rome, Tehran - and Florida: the freed Italian hostage Cecilia Sala (l.) on January 8th with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni

A deal between Rome, Tehran – and Florida: the freed Italian hostage Cecilia Sala (l.) on January 8th with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni
© Filippo Attili/Italian Government

Trump is considered a hardliner against Iran. Did he want to do Meloni a favor or is he now more open towards Tehran?
That’s correct. In 2020, he gave the order to have Qassem Suleimani, one of the Iranian regime’s most important military commanders, killed by a US drone in Baghdad. And he canceled the nuclear agreement with the regime in Tehran. But the world today is more complicated than it was during his first term. Trump realizes that he also has to enter into dialogue with his enemies. On the other hand, he has a good relationship with Meloni. She is also an important partner for him in Europe because the governments of other large countries such as Germany and France are currently in political difficulties. Meloni is Trump’s most important door opener in Europe. But she is also important to him for other reasons.

What could Meloni offer Trump?
Now that Italy has a stable government and given its geographical location in the southern Mediterranean, at the interface between the West and the Global South, Meloni could continue to play a role as a mediator. The fact that Iran trusted Italy to release Salas may be the first sign that Tehran sees Italy in this role of mediating between the interests of Iran, the West and America.

Is Iran interested in such mediation?
The old regime of spiritual leader Ayatollah Khamenei is coming to an end. It is in a major crisis. It has lost military power. Iran’s proxy militias, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, have been pushed back by Israel. Tehran’s claim to play a key role in the region has collapsed. And in our own country the pressure against those in power is growing. Massoud Pezeshkian, the new Iranian president, is ready for reforms, but cannot do anything against the still existing theocratic rule. That could change soon. The country is faced with the choice of isolating itself or moving forward and entering into a dialogue with the international community. We should therefore follow developments in Iran with the same interested and skeptical eye as we do with the new rulers in Syria after the fall of the Assad regime.

The Middle East is in transition. Russian military units that were withdrawn from Syria after the fall of Assad are now concentrated in Libya. Is the country becoming Russia’s new outpost on the Mediterranean?
The future of Russian military bases in Syria is uncertain. In any case, Putin won’t just give it up. But I expect that Russia will also try to set up its own naval base in eastern Libya.

Warlord Khalifa Haftar with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov

“A problem for Europe”: East Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar (l.) and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov shake hands
© Sergei Savostyanov / DPA

Russia already uses several military airports in Libya and is in the process of expanding some of them. Moscow has apparently moved troops, fighter jets and material there from its bases on Syria’s coast in recent weeks. What does this mean for Europe?
This is a problem for us. I hope that Europe will not turn a blind eye. We must understand that the threat posed by Libya is just as great to us as the threat posed by Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine.

You know Libya from your time as Italian Interior Minister and intelligence coordinator. What specific dangers arise from Russia’s increased presence there?
Firstly, Libya is an important energy supplier for Europe. If Libya comes under Russian influence, it would be very problematic for us to continue to purchase oil and gas from there. However, we are dependent on energy imports. Secondly, Libya plays a central role in migration. Under Russian influence, migration flows could be specifically controlled in order to put pressure on Europe.

How acute are these dangers?
General Khalifa Haftar, the ruler in eastern Libya, where Russia is currently expanding its military presence, has himself visited Moscow several times. With the relocation of Russian military installations from Syria to Libya, this alliance will be further strengthened.

Deployed to Libya: a Russian attack helicopter over the Hmeimim air base on the Syrian coast

Deployed to Libya: a Russian attack helicopter over the Hmeimim air base on the Syrian coast
© Chris McGrath/Getty Images

How can Europe counteract this?
It has to speak to all the protagonists on site.

Even with warlords like Haftar? We have just seen in Syria how quickly those in power can falter.
European politics has long completely ignored the Middle East and Africa. These regions simply did not appear to be important theaters to Europeans. This enabled the Russians to expand their influence in eastern Libya. And Turkey in the west of the country. Europe cannot accept this de facto division of the country. It is in our interest that there is stability and democratic development with free elections in Libya. The EU promised to work towards this as early as 2017. But the Libyans are still waiting.

This is also due to the fact that in Libya, various European states worked against each other instead of pulling together, especially France and Italy.
The EU must introduce majority voting in order to be able to act and develop military effectiveness. Europe would do well not to view Trump’s pressure on NATO partners to spend more money on defense as an imposition, but rather to accept this challenge. If Europe does not find political unity, the individual states of the EU will hardly be able to play a role in the world in the long term.

  • Giorgia Meloni

  • Donald Trump

  • Italy

  • Iran

  • Russia