MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Milei off to Italy once again this year

It will be Milei's sixth official encounter with Meloni

Argentine President Javier Milei Thursday resumed his mileage accruing spree after departing for Rome to meet with Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, among other engagements.

According to Presidential Spokesman Manuel Adorni, Milei will also be holding talks with the CEO and Director of Foreign Affairs of the Anglo-Australian multinational Rio Tinto Group, after which he will receive the Milton Friedman Award granted, in Adorni's words, to “those who, through economic theory, promote freedom.”

Milei will meet with Meloni at 2.30 pm. It will be their sixth official meeting after the one on Nov. 20 at the Casa Rosada during which they expressed their willingness to create an “alliance of nations against tyranny and misery” to rise to “the challenges of our times.”

On Saturday, Milei is due at Rome's Circus Maximus to deliver a speech at the Atreju youth festival of rightwing leaders organized by Meloni's Fratelli d'Italia (Brothers of Italy) party. The Atreju festival is staged at the Circus Maximus from Dec. 8 to 15 under the slogan “The Italian Way: Concrete Answers to the Changing World.” He is also scheduled to appear on a local TV show.

On Sunday, the South American head of State is to meet with John Elkann, CEO of the automaker Stellantis, and then give an interview to the newspaper Líbero.

This is Milei's third visit to Italy this year, after his trip in January, when he met with Pope Francis at the Vatican and then with Meloni, which earned him an invitation to the G7 meeting in Puglia in June. Milei and Meloni also met in New York during the UN General Assembly, at the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro last November, followed by Meloni's first official trip to Buenos Aires.

Milei and Meloni share a rejection of the 2030 Agenda and the fight against woke or progressive policies. After Donald Trump's electoral win, Milei called for a global conservative alliance between the United States, Argentina, Italy, and Israel.

The Libertarian leader is due back in Buenos Aires at 1.20 am on Monday.