Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni revealed Wednesday she takes her six-year-old daughter on official trips wherever she can, adding that world leaders have welcomed her, including at the White House.
Meloni, the self-described “Christian mother” elected last September on a platform of traditional family values, spoke to gossip magazine “Chi” about how her life has changed since becoming Italy’s first woman premier.
In Wednesday’s edition, Meloni said US President Joe Biden had been “extremely nice” in offering a visit of the White House to her daughter Ginevra during an official trip in July.
Ginevra is Meloni’s daughter with her partner, television journalist Andrea Giambruno.
Meloni also described how Ginevra and the daughter of Charles Michel, president of the European Council, played in the playground together during the last European Union summit.
The 46-year-old prime minister, leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy party, also took her daughter to the G20 summit in Bali in November.
“Many other leaders, in the various trips I have taken her on, have shown their attention and sympathy,” she told the magazine, noting in particular the Japanese and Indian prime ministers.
“In the end, we all have the same problems,” she added.
“Fathers and mothers forced to stay away from their children for too long, who try to do their best to compensate for that absence, or to limit it as much as possible.
“That’s why whenever possible I take Ginevra, both to spend a little more time together and to let her live new experiences. With her by my side, I feel stronger.”
News of her daughter’s presence at the G20 last year caused a stir in the Italian media, to which Meloni insisted: “I have the right to be a mother in the way I want.”
