Meloni in Armenia, participates in European Political Community summit on Mond

IL SOLE, Italy
May 3 2026

Meloni in Armenia, participates in European Political Community summit on Monday

In the afternoon he will be in Baku, neighbouring Azerbaijan, on an official visit. Azerbaijan second supplier of oil and gas to Italy

by Rome Editorial Staff
3 May 2026

Key points

• Armenia and Azerbaijan less than a thousand kilometres from crisis scenarios
• Tusk: “EPC summit sends clear signal, Europe-US friendship crucial”
• On the sidelines the second meeting of the European Coalition Against Drugs
• Official visit to Azerbaijan
• Italy’s first Azerbaijani export destination market
• Azerbaijan’s second largest supplier of oil and gas to Italy

Giorgia Meloni is in Yerevan, Armenia’s capital, where she will attend the eighth summit of the European Political Community (EPC) on Monday 4 and then move to Baku, in neighbouring Azerbaijan, in the afternoon on an official visit. At the Zvartnots International Airport in Yerevan she was welcomed by the Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia, Mher Grigoryan, and the Ambassador of Italia in the Republic of Armenia, Alessandro Ferranti.

Armenia and Azerbaijan less than a thousand kilometres from crisis scenarios

Never as this time has the centrality of the international agenda coincided with that of geography, given that Armenia and Azerbaijan are both less than a thousand kilometres from the crisis scenarios, on the one hand Ukraine, on the other Iran. And these issues and their repercussions on international relations and the economy will be discussed on Monday, Italian sources anticipate, in the work of the European Political Community, which will bring together the leaders of 47 European nations, confirming itself as a place for informal dialogue between Heads of State and Government. For the EU institutions, European Council President Costa and Presidents Metsola and von der Leyen will be present. The Secretaries-General of NATO Rutte, Council of Europe Berset and OSCE Sinirlioglu will also participate.

In Armenia, the energy dossier is on the agenda and it is far from excluded that it will be central in the various bilateral meetings of the leaders on the sidelines of the summit.

Tusk: ‘EPC summit sends clear signal, Europe-US friendship crucial’

The relationship between the US and the European Union is also on the table, just hours after US President Donald Trump’s announcement of new tariffs on the import of European cars. “Today’s Epc summit in Yerevan should send a clear signal: transatlantic ties and friendship between Europe and the US is our common responsibility. And there is no alternative to that. We need each other more than ever. Our allies can always count on Poland’. This is what Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on X after landing in the Armenian capital.

On the sidelines the second meeting of the European Coalition Against Drugs

In the margins of the Summit, the second meeting of the European Coalition Against Drugs (ECAD), co-chaired with French President Macron, will take place with the presentation of the 2026 initiatives. The Coalition aims to provide operational responses to the challenges related to drug trafficking, in liaison with international and European organisations, strengthening cooperation between Member States and non-EU countries. The action is divided into three pillars: combating transnational trafficking; combating illicit financial flows, money laundering and corruption according to the ‘follow the money’ approach; and strengthening prevention and recovery policies.

The official visit to Azerbaijan

The official visit by Prime Minister Meloni to Azerbaijan, at the invitation of President Aliyev, is part of the strategy that the Italian government is pursuing to strengthen Italy’s energy security and protect Italian families and businesses from external shocks, particularly in the current scenario marked by the Iranian crisis and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, Italian sources close to the dossier explain. A strategy that in recent weeks has taken President Meloni first to North Africa and then to the Gulf countries.

Meloni with Aliyev will ‘deepen’ the ways to consolidate bilateral relations by working on the ‘quality’ of the partnership along the entire energy chain, without forgetting the prospects for stabilising the area (precisely the peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia), passing through the progressive strengthening of political and economic relations between Baku and Brussels, to which Italia provides ‘firm support’.

Italy first destination market for Azerbaijani exports

Italia is confirmed as the first destination market for Azerbaijani exports, with a predominant component in the energy sector, which historically represents the pillar of cooperation between the two nations.

Azerbaijan second largest supplier of oil and gas to Italia

Azerbaijan is the second largest supplier of oil and gas to Italia (17% and 16% of national needs respectively). In an international context marked by a high degree of uncertainty and instability, which affects the resilience of supply chains and the security of energy flows, Meloni and Aliyev will have the opportunity to explore ways to consolidate the relationship that binds Rome and Baku, working on the quality of the partnership along the entire supply chain. In the course of the talks, the main current international issues will also be addressed, starting from the war in Ukraine to the situation in Iran and the related regional dynamics, with a focus on the most recent developments and the possible impacts on the security balance. Finally, the two leaders will be able to take stock of the normalisation process of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

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