Elon Musk set to attend Italy leader Giorgia Meloni's conservative Atreju political festival in Rome

Rome — Elon Musk will attend a conservative political festival in Rome on Saturday organized by Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her far right-wing party, the Brothers of Italy, the party says. In addition to the tech billionaire, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Spanish far-right Vox party leader Santiago Abascal and Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama were set to join the Atreju festival in the Italian capital.

Musk, the founder of Tesla and SpaceX who bought Twitter last year, travelled to Rome in June to meet Meloni and the two discussed the dangers of artificial intelligence, as well as how to shore up Italy's declining population. Italy has one of the lowest birth rates in the world.

Sunak and Meloni are political allies who have put immigration at the center of their political agendas. The two jointly penned an editorial calling for tougher action against illegal immigration, and Sunak's government has been trying to get a contentious plan past the U.K. courts that would see it fly migrants and asylum seekers who arrive on Britain's shores without permission to Rwanda for processing.

At a London meeting in April, Sunak told Meloni their two countries were "very aligned" in their values. Meloni, who was elected last year to head her country's most right-wing government since World War II, has proposed sending some migrants who arrive in Italy to Albania for processing.           

The Atreju festival, which takes its name from the central character in the fantasy book and movie "The NeverEnding Story," was started by Meloni in 1998 to gather and celebrate Italy's conservative youth. At the time she was the head of the Rome branch of a right-wing youth movement.

In addition to political speeches, the festival will entertain approximately 10,000 attendees with a Christmas village, ice rink and concerts.

Past guests at the festival include Hungary's far-right Prime Minister Viktor Orban and American political operative Steve Bannon, a former advisor to Donald Trump.

Musk is slated to give a speech Saturday, followed by Sunak. The rally ends Sunday, when Meloni will deliver closing remarks.

In:
• Immigration
• Elon Musk
• Giorgia Meloni
• Rishi Sunak
• Italy
• Asylum Seekers
• European Union
• United Kingdom

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