EU's Costa meets with Meloni in Rome, urges stronger defense readiness

European Council President Antonio Costa met Monday with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome, praising Italy's backing of Ukraine and calling for stronger common defense measures.

"Italy has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine since the start of the Russian aggression. We discussed our common efforts to put Ukraine on a path to a just and lasting peace," Costa wrote on the US social media company X’s platform.

"Ukraine's and Europe's security are interlinked. That’s why we need to ramp up our common defense readiness, making use of common tools – such as SAFE. This will benefit our industry, our competitiveness and create jobs for our citizens," he added, stressing that a "secure Europe has to be a prosperous Europe."

He was referring to the Security Action for Europe (SAFE), an EU financial instrument that provides member states with up to €150 billion ($176 billion) in long-maturity loans to fund urgent, large-scale defense procurement and boost the European defense industrial base.

Costa explained that it would require continuous effort to "keep up our simplification efforts, reduce energy prices, and support our traditional industries."

According to a statement from Palazzo Chigi, the meeting provided an opportunity to "take stock of the main dossiers of international current affairs, with particular reference to the situation in Ukraine and the Middle East."

Preparations for upcoming EU meetings were also discussed, including an informal European Council meeting and the European Political Community (EPC) summit in Copenhagen on Oct. 1-2.