Giorgia Meloni in hot water over government talks with Elon Musk’s SpaceX

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Georgia Meloni is facing a political storm over the Italian government’s talks with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to provide secure communications, just as Europe launches its own rival satellite initiative.

On Monday, Musk said his company was “ready to deliver to Italy [with] The most secure and advanced connection.” came after his comments on social media platform X italian The government has acknowledged ongoing discussions about using Starlink services for “encrypted data communications”.

The potential deal, worth up to $1.5 billion, has sparked outrage among Italian opposition politicians.

Moderate lawmaker Carlo Calenda, a former industry minister, warned on Tuesday that “contracting Musk for such sensitive services – when he patronizes the European far-right, spreads fake news and meddles in the internal politics of European states – cannot be an option. “.

“This is not a solution consistent with national security,” Calenda said.

Elie Schlein, leader of the largest opposition Democratic Party, demanded that Meloni and his ministers appear in parliament to brief lawmakers on the talks. SpaceX.

“If we have to pay Musk’s friendship $1.5 billion to put his satellite into orbit, we won’t take it,” he said. “Italy will not sell.”

Former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said, “If Musk wants to invest in Italy, welcome him. If Musk wants Italian taxpayers’ money, Meloni must explain how, why and when.

Meloni developed a close personal friendship with the world’s richest man, calling him “brilliant”. Musk described her as “authentic, honest and thoughtful” and “she’s more beautiful on the inside than she is on the outside.” His office denied a media report that he discussed a potential Starlink deal with US President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago last weekend, calling the suggestion “simply ridiculous”.

Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini rejected the idea that the SpaceX deal involved any risk and urged Meloni to hurry to seal a deal.

“Musk is a global hero of innovation: a possible deal with him to guarantee connectivity and modernization across Italy would be an opportunity rather than a danger,” Salvini said. “I believe the government will accelerate in this direction.”

Defense Minister Guido Crosetto told parliament last year that Rome had no choice but to add SpaceX because of its existing monopoly on low-orbit satellite communications, and said a potential European option would take years to get up and running.

Regardless of people’s personal opinions about Musk, Crosetto said, “If you need a low-orbit connection now, you need to talk to Starlink”.

The EU signed a €10.6 billion deal last month for an ambitious project to deploy 260 satellites in low and medium Earth orbit to provide secure communications to EU member states by 2030. Telespazio, a joint venture between Italian defense company Leonardo and France’s Thales. Among the many European aerospace and communications companies involved in the initiative is Iris².

Beniamino Irdi, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, and former foreign and security policy adviser to the Italian government, warned that signing up to Starlink for Rome’s official communications could upset Italy’s EU allies, as they aim to revive the bloc’s own flagship space sector. Its multi-orbit satellite project.

“It sends a political signal to the EU,” Irdi said. “Iris² symbolizes Europe’s strategic autonomy, and a key EU member moving to a different solution could be interpreted as a sign of disengagement from it.”

Yet he said the Starlink offer was a model of the kind of potential U.S. allies face, as they are encouraged to risk their long-term strategic interests to appease the incoming Trump administration and its most powerful backer, Musk.

“This could be a pattern of US foreign policy with its allies,” Irdi said. “Knowing that Musk plays such a large role — and that Trump is so transactional in nature — US allies will be tempted to appease Musk as a private actor and risk their core strategic interests.”

Additional reporting by Juliana Ricozzi