Her comments came after ex-prime minister and Life Senator Mario Monti asked about her relations with the billionaire and member of US President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration.
“I have good relations with a lot of people, and I don’t take orders from anyone, you should be happy about that,” Meloni told the Upper House.
“I am a free person who talks to everyone, but I don’t take orders from anyone.
“I don’t know what film you have seen, but I think … [there is] a fundamental difference between us and what we have seen [from other governments] over the years.
“In the past, we saw leaders who thought that a good relationship meant slavishly executing others’ commands.”
Meloni, the leader of the right-wing Brothers of Italy party, and the world’s richest man have repeatedly expressed their admiration for each other.
In November, Musk spurred opposition claims of meddling in Italy’s affairs by saying “these judges must go” after courts’ nixed of the detention of the first small batches of migrants sent to processing centres in Albania under the government’s controversial new deterrence policy.
ANSA
