A prank call has put the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, in trouble. The leader of the Brothers of Italy has been the victim of two Russian comedians, one of whom posed as an African leader who is having a conversation with her about the world geopolitical situation. In this call, now broadcast on social networks and by the Russian state agency Tass, Meloni talks about the conflict in Ukraine and admits that many are “tired” of the issue.
“I see that many are tired. To tell the truth, we could be close to the moment when everyone will understand that we need a way out,” the prime minister says in the conversation. The comedian, pretending to be the president of the African Union Commission, regrets that they cannot ask European organizations for funds because “all the EU money goes to Ukraine”, to which Meloni agrees and comments: “ The problem is to find a solution acceptable to both parties, without violating international law.” "I have some ideas on how to handle this situation," she continues, "but I'm looking for the right time to present them."
The Italian premier's team has been forced to intervene and has sent a statement in which it assures that the diplomatic advisor's office regrets having been "deceived by an impostor who has posed as the president of the African Union Commission and who was put in contact with the president (of the Italian Council of Ministers) Meloni.”
According to the note, the episode took place on September 18 in the “context of the intense effort developed in those hours by Meloni to strengthen relations with African leaders with whom he has had important meetings on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly between on September 19 and 21.”
In the call, Meloni also addresses the immigration challenge and says that for a long time Europe “thought that the problem could be solved by limiting it to Italy, but what they don't understand is that it is impossible.” “The dimension of this phenomenon is such that it involves not only the EU, but in my opinion also the UN. The problem is that the others do not take care of it and agree that Italy must solve this problem alone,” he adds.
The comedians who have teased Meloni are the same, Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexei Stolyarov, better known as Vovan and Lexus, who in the past made fun of the mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez Almeida. This October they would have also deceived the acting President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, pretending to be an African president interested in negotiating the cereal trade agreement, but the socialist would have emerged successfully from the conversation maintaining the official positions of the Executive and the EU. . In the past they also hit the Danish Foreign Minister, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, and the mayor of Vienna, Michael Ludwig.
