Three years after her arrival at the Palazzo Chigi, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni still enjoys high approval ratings. The strict budget policies of her government have paid off: credit rating agencies have upgraded Italy's sovereign debt rating. However, businesses in the country face a labour shortage. Meloni's government plans to issue 500,000 visas to non-European workers by 2028, an unexpected position for a hard-right leader who promised to close the borders. On the political front, Meloni has surprised her adversaires with her pragmatism. Despite campaigning as a diehard Eurosceptic, she has shifted to being an active partner in Brussels. Our Rome correspondents report.
