All right, Alexander, let's talk about what is going on in the European Union, and let's focus

on Georgia Maloney and Italy. She recently was in China, and it looks like Maloney is starting to look

towards the east, to look towards bricks again, or at least to look towards China again.

She did cut off the one-belt, one road, but it looks like she's having buyers remorse,

if you can call it that regrets about doing that.

I imagine Maloney sees the terrible state of the European Union.

I imagine she understands that the EU economy is getting hammered that NATO and the European

Union, the collective Westgate getting hammered by Russia in Ukraine.

And perhaps she's she's looking elsewhere, sensing that everything in Europe is collapsing,

but she is still a prisoner.

Italy is still a prisoner to the European Union and the euro and all of the slush funds

and the money that is going to get dished out to Italy and withholding that money and all of the tools, as Ursula once

famously said, all of the, we've got tools that the EU likes to use in order to, to blackmail, I guess

you could say. I don't know if that's the correct word. Member states to doing what they command them to do.

Anyway, what are your thoughts as to what is happening with Maloney and Italy?

I think what has happened over the last two years since Maloney became Prime Minister of Italy

is that she's tried very, very hard to work with the EU, with the EU centre.

She's gone out of a way to support their policy on Ukraine, even though it's unpopular in Italy, and with many members of her coalition.

She's cut off the economic ties, the trade ties with China. She pulled out of the Belt and Road initiative. She's worked extremely hard to try to build up a personal relationship with Ursula von der Leyen. And I think what she's discovering is what everybody who tries that

course eventually discovers and who's not themselves completely mentally, you know, part of the

EU project, which is that it is never enough. You give these people what they want and they come back and they ask for more and more and

more. It's a good piece by Conagallagher about all of this in naked capitalism, which I think

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