A post is being shared on social media claiming that Italy Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, in a recent statement, mentioned Islam’s incompatibilities with Europe and said there will be no place for Islam in Europe. The purported statement of Giorgia Meloni says- “Islam and Europe have a compatibility problem.” Several Indian media houses recently published articles reporting the same. A few of those news articles can be seen here, here, and here. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Italy PM Giorgia Meloni, in a recent statement, said, “Islam and Europe have compatibility problem”.
Fact: Giorgia Meloni made similar statements in 2018, much before she became the Prime Minister of Italy. Giorgia Meloni, during an interview in 2018, said that Islam certainly presents incompatibilities with the values and the civilization of Europe. Lately, Giorgia Meloni made statements admitting her government’s failure in controlling irregular migration. But lately, she had not made any such comments on Islam’s incompatibility with Europe. Hence, the claim made in the post is Misleading.
When we searched to check whether Giorgia Meloni had made any such statements about Islam, we found a news article, published in 2018, reporting Giorgia Meloni making similar statements about Islam. Supporting Matteo Salvini’s comments stating, “Islam incompatible with European values”, Giorgia Meloni, the President of the Brothers of Italy (FdI) party, in 2018 said, “Salvini is right. Islam incompatible with our culture“.
Giorgia Meloni, during an interview in 2018, said, “I believe that Islam certainly presents incompatibilities with our values and our civilization, and what happens in Islamic centers demonstrates this. This does not mean generalizing, but there is an incompatibility with our culture”.
Giorgia Meloni was elected as Italy’s First Female Prime Minister in September 2022. Lately, while addressing supporters at a far-right political festival in Rome, Giorgia Meloni admitted the government’s failure in curbing irregular migration. However, she again did not make any statements related to the incompatibility issues between Islam and Europe.
To sum it up, Giorgia Meloni’s old statement about the incompatibility between Islam and Europe was shared as the recent one.
