Italy's Meloni draws comparison to legendary European leader ahead of visit with Biden

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has become a leader among European conservatives since assuming her role last year, drawing comparisons to other legendary conservatives from the continent.

"Meloni has been a remarkable and stunning success story in Italy in a country that has suffered from political instability for decades, and she has challenged the status quo and is winning," Nile Gardiner, the director of the Heritage Foundation's Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom, told Fox News Digital.

Gardiner's comments come ahead of Meloni's scheduled visit with President Biden at the White House on Thursday, her first official visit to the United States since becoming prime minister.

The Italian prime minister makes her trip to Washington as a budding conservative star in Europe, making waves with her positions on the coronavirus pandemic and her seemingly anti-"woke" approach to domestic policy.

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Her positions on LGBT parenting and same-sex marriage and her skepticism of the European Union have been controversial in Europe, though Gardiner argued that her willingness to take a stand on such issues puts her on similar ground as former U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

"One of the most impressive aspects of her time in office has been to implement what she has promised on the campaign trail," Gardiner said. "I think Meloni really understands the significance of the culture wars in Europe, and she is the most principled leader in Western Europe on cultural matters and takes a very firm stand in defense of traditional Christian Western civilization."

Gardiner called Meloni the "most powerful defender of Christianity in Western Europe today," arguing that "very few leaders are prepared to take positions she takes."

"Margaret Thatcher would have supported the stance Meloni took on the defense of Western civilization," Gardiner said.

Meloni will now take her unique leadership style to the White House, where she and Biden are expected to discuss the war in Ukraine and Italy's transatlantic cooperation with China.

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The Italian prime minister has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine since Russia's invasion last year, leading the charge to continue providing Ukrainian forces with support despite pushback from Italy's opposition party.

In passionate remarks in front of the Italian Parliament last month, Meloni took a strong stand against the opposition arguments that Ukrainian lives could be saved by allowing Russia to win the war.

"Freedom, democracy and the values of our civilization were built with the sacrifice of those who were ready to sacrifice themselves to build them," Meloni said, according to a translation that was independently verified by Fox News Digital. "I don't think it's better to live under a dictatorship than to die. I think we have to work so that people can live free."

Meloni is also expected to discuss Italy's participation in the controversial Belt and Road Initiative, a Chinese project that envisions rebuilding the old Silk Road with large infrastructure spending to connect Asia and China with Europe.

Italy, which is the only Western country to join the initiative, signed on in 2019 under the leadership of former Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. That move was controversial with both the U.S. and European Union, though Meloni says that Biden has never raised the issue with her.

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"The president of the United States has never directly raised the question with me," she said at a news conference this week, according to a report from Reuters.

Italy's deal with China is set to expire next year and Meloni is reportedly unlikely to renew it, with an announcement of those plans possibly coming during her trip to Washington.

But true comparisons to Thatcher are premature, according to Gardiner, who noted the volume of reforms achieved in the U.K. under the former prime minister's leadership.

Gardiner, a former adviser to Thatcher, noted that "Meloni is an admirer of Margaret Thatcher. … I think she sees Margaret Thatcher as a real inspiration," Gardiner said, adding that it is "too early for comparisons because of the sheer scale of achievements" made by the former U.K. prime minister.

"Lady Thatcher fundamentally turned the U.K. around from the sick man of Europe into an economic powerhouse, and Meloni still has to achieve similar economic reforms," Gardiner added. "But I would say that Meloni aspires to be the Margaret Thatcher of Italy, I think that is the role model for her."

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Gardiner said that in order for Meloni to reach the legendary status of Thatcher, she would have to "embark on a radical pro-free market and economic agenda," which he said would be "a huge challenge for Italy."

"The scale of [the] task is a big one, but I think she's by far the best Italian leader we have seen in the past couple of decades and is clearly a strong conservative leader," Gardiner said. "We are still looking at the early stages of her prime ministerial career in Italy, but she has made a very promising start."