She will work with any government "that is willing to work with us," said Ursula von der Leyen last week.

After a speech at Princeton University, the President of the European Commission was asked if she was concerned about the upcoming elections in Italy.

However, agencies and Italian politicians suppressed this sentence in order to instead scandalize a sentence that fell shortly afterwards.

Thomas Gutschker

Political correspondent for the European Union, NATO and the Benelux countries based in Brussels.

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When things go in a "wrong direction", von der Leyen continued, you have "tools".

Lega chairman Matteo Salvini then immediately asked her to resign.

In fact, the sentence did not refer to a “wrong” election result, but to an erosion of the rule of law, as von der Leyen made clear with a reference to Hungary and Poland.

Of course, the artificial upsurge shows that the relationship between Rome and Brussels is becoming difficult, which is why many Brussels actors mourn Mario Draghi, including liberal heads in the European People's Party and certainly von der Leyen himself forthcoming summit meetings, on 7 October in Prague and two weeks later in Brussels.

Strengthening for Poland and Hungary

Whether Georgia Meloni arrives afterwards depends on the Italian negotiations.

In any case, it has been registered in Brussels that Lega and Forza Italia have lost votes and are only junior partners in the legal alliance.

The EPP chairman, Manfred Weber from the CSU, who had worked hard for Forza Italia, was initially silent on Monday about the outcome of the election.

From an EU perspective, the strong performance of the Italian brothers strengthens the governments in Poland and Hungary, which also stand for a nationalist, populist and at least Eurosceptic course.

Two years ago, Meloni was elected leader of the European Conservatives and Reformists, or ECR for short.

This family of parties used to be dominated by the British Tories.

Since Brexit, the Polish governing party PiS has set the tone there, and it also provides half of the members of the European Parliament.

Meloni received congratulations from there on Sunday before she declared her election victory herself.

In turn, she maintains a close political and personal friendship with the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

Russia course will probably remain

This becomes relevant in the ongoing proceedings against Hungary to protect the EU budget from corruption.

The EU Commission has proposed freezing more than 7.5 billion euros, but has given Hungary until mid-November to implement far-reaching reforms.

If this does not happen, the member states will have to vote on this penalty in December.

So far, diplomats have been confident that the necessary majority will come together: 15 countries, which make up 65 percent of the EU population.

If Italy jumps out, and possibly Sweden after the recent election, it will be much more difficult.

The situation is different when it comes to the sanctions against Russia criticized by Orbán.

On this issue, Meloni stands firmly on the side of Poland and all other countries.

Putin admirers Salvini and Berlusconi are probably too weak to do anything about it.

Meloni, on the other hand, is rather alone with her demand that the criteria for the allocation of billions from the Corona aid fund be renegotiated.

Italy is entitled to almost 70 billion euros in grants, more than any other country.

The Commission has already ruled out renegotiations, but will be flexible when it comes to overcoming the energy crisis.

All states have an interest in this, and so far only ten percent of the total funds have been paid out.

In migration policy, on the other hand, Brussels is preparing for the fact that Matteo Salvini will once again make a name for himself as a hardliner, as he did during his short time as interior minister in 2018/19.

In recent months, states have come closer to reforming the asylum system.

The Mediterranean countries are relieved by resettlements, in return they agreed to a screening of asylum seekers.

All of this is initially being carried out on a test basis and at a low level, and the necessary legal acts have not yet been passed.

Rome must decide whether to stick to this pragmatic path or push aside the hard-won consensus - and get stuck with migrants coming by ship across the Mediterranean.