MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Italian PM Giorgia Meloni given Margaret Thatcher Award by EU Conservatives

The Italian PM addressing the New Direction Foundation when she was awarded the Margaret Thatcher Award

“I am a soldier in the service of an idea,” Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on receiving the Margaret Thatcher Awards, an event in mid- December organized at the Roman Aquarium by New Direction, the think tank of the European Conservative and Reformist family.

“There's still a lot of work to be done,” the prime minister continued, emphasizing that “we're trying to do our best, and on thanking for the award added, ”but there's still a lot to prove to reach to that level.“

Conservatives are fighting in a field ”where it's not easy to fight“ because ”we don't do what we do because it's easy or difficult,“ but ”because it's right or it's not. And we know we're on the right side of history,“ she continued. ”Being conservative means defending what you love,“ she explained, ”what made us who we are. However, doing so has become something revolutionary“ because ”the world we live in pushes us in the opposite direction.“

For Ms Meloni, ”we can respect others,“ but ”we can't respect others if we don't try to understand them. This is the work we try to do every day because we want to move forward,“ Meloni concluded.

The Margaret Thatcher Award was established in 2025 to honor the hundredth anniversary of the birth of Margaret Thatcher, the founding patron of New Direction. Margaret Thatcher Awards exist to reward excellence in public life, in the promotion of the shared vision of a free society, whether that change is being enacted through politics, academia, the media, cultural spaces or sports. New Direction aims to recognize those who are standing up for Conservative beliefs.

“We wanted to recognize the outsiders, the journalists who refuse to copy-paste the mainstream narrative; philosophers who dare to challenge the ”woke” religion and the athletes and artists who use their platforms to defend freedom, rather than to cancel it. We want to award those who are fighting the cultural battle. Because, as the Iron Lady knew, you must win the argument before you can win the ballot box,” according to Nicola Procaccini MEP, President of New Direction at the Margaret Thatcher Awards.

New Direction for European Conservatism is the official foundation of the European Conservatives and Reformists family at the European level. Founded in 2009 under the patronage of Margaret Thatcher, New Direction is the intellectual home of Europe’s growing conservative movement, giving a voice to national movements that promote the rule of law, traditional values, free markets, and respect for the principle of protecting national sovereignty.

Through research, reports, lectures, conferences, and working groups, New Direction helps to inform the work of conservative lawmakers at the European, National, and regional level. At the same time, New Direction’s Summer University and series of Academies helps to bring conservative principles to a new and younger generation. By equipping politicians and activists with the tools they need, New Direction stands ready to help take the movement forward.

Ms Meloni was given the Margaret Thatcher Award since she is leading the Italian fourth longest standing government in the eighty years since the end of WWII in a country known for its repeated lack of political stability. Ms. Meloni has not only promoted conservative values but also has shown courage and commitment to freedom for standing against the tide in politics. A very close friend of Argentine president Javier Milei, they praise each other, Ms Meloni has managed a cohesive coalition, contained budget deficit and growing national debt, opened markets, fought immigration, increased the defense budget, is one of the few EU close friends of US President Trump and has Italy back in a leading role in EU politics..