Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Thursday defended Elon Musk's increasing political involvement, while also stating that she had never privately discussed any potential agreement with him regarding the provision of secure communications for Italy.
The right-wing leader dismissed concerns about political interference as the U.S. tech billionaire, an ally of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, steps up his comments on European politics on his social media site X.
Head of the post-Fascist Brothers of Italy party, Meloni said Musk's political interventions only caused outrage because he wasn't left-wing – and that foreigners had been interfering in Italian politics for years.
Instead, she accused powerful people on the left of political interference, including billionaire financier and philanthropist George Soros.
Meloni has a good relationship with Musk and those ties are in the spotlight in Italy as the government weighs up a possible contract relying on Starlink, part of Musk's SpaceX business.
"I evaluate foreign investments through a single lens, which is the lens of national interest, not friendships or political ideas of those who may invest," Meloni said.
"I also take this opportunity to tell you that I have never personally spoken with Elon Musk about these matters," Meloni added during a 2-1/2 hour press conference when the subject of Musk was repeatedly raised.
SpaceX is discussing a five-year deal worth a total of 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion), a source with knowledge of the matter said. The project has been sharply criticized by opposition parties questioning whether the handling of such communications should be entrusted to a Musk company.
"We are simply in the investigative phase, which is why I don't understand all the accusations that have been made. Is the problem with SpaceX that it's a private company, or is it Elon Musk's political ideas?" Meloni added.
Meloni flew to Florida last weekend for unannounced talks with Trump, winning praise from the incoming president, who called her "a fantastic woman".
Addressing a press conference in Rome, Meloni said she had received an invitation to Trump's Jan. 20 inauguration and was keen to fit it into her schedule.
"If I can, I will happily go," she said.
Meloni's supporters hope the conservative leader will have privileged access to Trump over the next four years and become a bridge between Washington and Europe.
No danger to democracy
Italy is evaluating the use of Musk's space-based telecommunications system to provide secure communications between the government, Italian diplomats and defense officials operating in sensitive areas across the Mediterranean.
Meloni said Italy faced a dilemma over how to protect its sensitive communications as there are currently no Italian or EU-backed alternative systems to Starlink.
The full rollout of the EU's IRIS2 (Iris squared) satellite constellation is not expected before the end of 2030.
"Either we talk to a private company or we do not protect this data. What is the preferable scenario between two sub-optimal scenarios?" said Meloni.
Musk has provoked fury across Europe with attacks on British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his endorsement of the far-right AfD party ahead of an election in Germany next month.
But Meloni defended Musk's right to speak his mind and rejected a suggestion that the billionaire's comments on X constituted "dangerous interference."
"I do not see this danger to democracy. Elon Musk is a very well-known and wealthy person who expresses his ideas," Meloni said.
"The problem is when wealthy people use their resources to finance parties, associations and political exponents all over the world to influence the political choices of nation states," she noted.
"That's not what Musk is doing," she insisted.
"Elon Musk financed an election campaign in his country, by his candidate, in a system in which, by the way, I would point out that this is quite common," Meloni added.
"But I am not aware of Elon Musk financing parties, associations or political exponents around the world.
"This, for example, is what George Soros does," Meloni alleged. "And yes, I consider that to be dangerous interference in the affairs of nation states and in their sovereignty."
Reviled by conservatives, and often the target of anti-Semitic conspiracies, Soros used wealth amassed as a financier in the 1970s and 80s to create the Open Society Foundations (OSF), which support a broad arrange of causes and NGOs worldwide, ranging from good-governance and democracy-building programs to liberal public policy initiatives.
He has been a major donor during U.S. elections but does not own a social media network or hold a position in government.
'Not left-wing'
"Is the problem that Elon Musk is influential and rich or that he is not left-wing?" queried Meloni, who has described Musk as a "genius."
She slammed "those who until yesterday described exponents of big finance – who often bet against nation states, who finance exponents of political associations – as fine, as philanthropy."
Meloni said she had not taken any money from Musk, "unlike those who have taken it from Soros."
The prime minister said she refrained from commenting on other countries' domestic politics herself but had herself repeatedly been the victim of attacks.
She compared "left-wing" outrage over Musk's vocal support for the extreme-right AfD ahead of elections there, with "left-wing" silence over what she said was "interference" by top German politicians in Italy's 2022 general election.
Twice during the press conference, Meloni referred to Musk as Donald Trump by mistake.
Musk's political initiatives are intimately linked to his economic interests, experts suggest.
He is an enthusiastic supporter of Meloni – Italy's most right-wing leader since 1945.