No one can ever accuse Giorgia Meloni of being an artless dodger. Italy’s first female prime minister is a policy-oriented leader who puts her nation first, earning respect for proffering substantive solutions to the most intractable of problems.

Moreover, each remedy is an integral facet of an overarching agenda that speaks to the future — linking domestic concerns with international imperatives. Though she is true to her conservative principles, Ms. Meloni is guided by patriotism over party.

Her mantra is to do what is best for Italy. Illegal migration has bedeviled more than a few politicians in the West, including Vice President Harris, America’s on-again-off-again border tsar. Unlike that one-time “middle-class kid” from Oakland, California, Signora Meloni has achieved quantifiable results in reversing the flow of human smuggling.

As headlined in ITV News, “Italy has cut illegal migration by 60%.” Even the left-leaning Guardian conceded, Prime Minister Meloni’s administration “cut the number of people arriving in dinghies across the Mediterranean by almost two-thirds in the past year, from 118,000 to 44,500.” Nor has Ms. Giorgia’s success escaped the notice of her peers.

Recently, Britain’s newly-minted prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer, paid a visit to Palazzo Chigi. According to the Guardian: “The relationship between the two countries matters to the UK.”  Indeed, Sir Starmer journeyed to the Magic Boot because Italy was “a leader in Europe on the world stage, as a G7 economy and a Nato ally.”

“Italy is a major economic power,” declared the Guardian. Sir Keir happily “announced an almost £500m investment in the UK by two Italian companies.” Yet the British leader also came to Rome to explore Italy’s steely solution to the migrant crisis. The increasing numbers of undocumented refugees crossing the English Channel has been the bane of 10 Downing Street for successive governments.

The left’s bleating about “root causes” does not get the job done. Nor is it in any way humane to allow drug lords, smugglers, and terrorists to continue to traffic in human beings. In building reception sites in Albania to house thousands of migrants picked up at sea, Signora Meloni has curbed the tsunami of migrants crossing the Mediterranean into Italy — and set an example for the European Union.

None of which has escaped the notice of President Ursula von der Leyen of the European Commission. She nominated a member of Signora Meloni’s Fratelli d’Italia party, Raffaele Fitto, as one of the vice-presidents of the European Commission. As executive vice president for the cohesion fund wallet and reforms, Signor Fitto will oversee both regional and urban development.

“He’ll bring his great experience in modernizing and reinforcing investments for political cohesion and growth,” said Ms. von der Leyen. Though the Socialists, Democrats, liberal Renew Europe, Greens, and the Left — including Elly Schlein and the Italian Partito Democratico — howled in protest, the EU Commission president stood her ground.

“Italy is a most important country and that fact is reflected in this selection,” reaffirmed Ms. von der Leyen. Indeed, Signora Meloni boasted of the “central role of our nation in the European Union. Italy is back as a leading protagonist in Europe.”

Politico calls Mr. Fitto’s appointment “a win for Giorgia Meloni, who hasn’t suffered any payback over her decision not to support von der Leyen’s reelection.” In embracing a former European Affairs minister in Signora Meloni’s Cabinet, Ms. von der Leyen acknowledges that a woman called Giorgia has fundamentally shifted the center of political gravity in Europe.

Ms. Meloni’s adroit stewardship of the G-7 and revival of Italy’s economic fortunes are signposts of a center-right realignment across the continent. Italy and Europe will no longer be tethered to wild-eyed AOC-style government programs that drain competitiveness and hamper economic growth.

As Italy’s former ambassador to NATO, Stefano Stefanini, noted in the Financial Times, Signora Meloni is “well-positioned ideologically” to deal with a possible second Trump administration. The Italian premier is an artful reformer whose vision for a more prosperous tomorrow continues to materialize with each passing day. No wonder Elon Musk will present her tomorrow with the Atlantic Council’s Global Citizen award at New York City.