Leaders of the European Union's 27 Member States gave the former head of the European Central Bank (ECB) a lengthy round of applause on his last day as Italian Prime Minister, who today will hand his office over to Giorgia Meloni of the far-right Brothers of Italy party after the September elections.
"We wish you personally all the best, whatever it takes," said European Council President Charles Michel at the EU Summit, referring to the Italian's famous statement at the height of the eurozone crisis in 2012 that heralded an arsenal of unorthodox ECB measures.
Since leaving the ECB, he had been sworn in as Italian Prime Minister in February 2021 following the collapse of the prior government but was forced to announce his resignation, twice in a week, after his coalition partners withdrew their support.
As a result, elections were held in which the far-right Brothers of Italy came first and are now expected to lead the governing right-wing to far-right coalition, alongside Matteo Salvini's Lega Nord and Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia.
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Draghi had marked his final months among the European institutions by pushing for a price cap on European gas alongside Belgium, but had come under criticism earlier this year for removing the sale of his country's luxury products to Russia off the list of European sanctions imposed on the Kremlin.
Nonetheless, Mario Draghi used his final speech to stress how the importance of the European project as “a source of security, stability and peace.”
As Draghi leaves office, Giorgia Meloni will head to the seat of the Italian presidency, the Quirinale, to form a government at 16:30 on Friday.
