EU, Salvini bets on the “Patriots”. Meloni tries to shield Ecr
Matteo Salvini is increasingly closer to the ‘Patriots’ founded by Viktor Orban. A “right path” – the League secretary defined it -, the one started by the Hungarian Prime Minister, together with the Austrians of the Fpo and the Czechs of Ano. The objective is the one that Salvini has been pursuing for years: that is, to give life to a large alternative group to the left in Europe. And the first step is to build an alliance open to those who were excluded from the agreement on top jobs between the EPP, Socialists and Liberals, defined as a “coup d’état” by the Italian Deputy Prime Minister. The desired result would therefore be the creation of a Eurogroup larger than Identity and Democracy, where the League currently sits together with the French of the Rassemblement National. The ‘Patriots for Europe’ already include Fpo, a historic ally of the League, one of the founders of Id, and, from today, the Portuguese of Chega, recently very close to the group born from the intuition of Salvini and Le Pen.
While waiting to see what the RN will do – which may not choose before the outcome of the second round of the legislative elections on Sunday -, therefore, the member of the Northern League is putting a chip on Orban’s project, which does not seem to interest Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy, at least not at the moment. FdI is in negotiations with its allies of PiS, with which it co-chairs the European Conservatives. However, the Poles could join the new ‘Patriots’, overcoming the historical distances with Orban, once considered too pro-Russian. “We are in negotiations with ECR and this is the main element that will decide our future”, said, in recent days, the former Polish Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, specifying that PiS is tempted to go “in both directions”. “I would say that the probability is 50-50”, he explained, adding that “it is not guaranteed” that PiS will remain in ECR. There should be a decision by Wednesday. In FdI it is not believed that in the end PiS could really leave Ecr but nothing is excluded at the moment.
This would be one of the least advantageous hypotheses for the first Italian governing party, because it would considerably reduce the size of the group that Meloni chairs, which, losing the 20 of PiS, would thus go from 83 to 63 MEPs. And the most serious danger is that a domino effect would lead to the dissolution of the EU Conservatives group. Forza Italia, an integral part of the European Popular Party, has no doubts about relocation. Throughout the election campaign, the national secretary of FI Antonio Tajani has been in favor of opening a dialogue between the EPP and Meloni’s Conservatives, to the detriment of the Greens. Tajani reiterated this today, maintaining that the majority that will support Ursula von der Leyen’s new commission in the European Parliament must be solid and will therefore need the votes of FdI. Von der Leyen had a first meeting with the Greens today. The negotiation has just begun and any prediction on the vote of the 24 MEPs of FdI seems premature. Meloni, who nevertheless left the door open by abstaining on von der Leyen’s nomination in the European Council, leaves all options on the table while waiting to understand what role she can obtain for Italy in the new executive. The prime minister’s stated goal is to “do better” than the PD did in 2019 and therefore obtain an important economic portfolio and a vice presidency of the commission for the Italian candidate who appears to be the minister for European Affairs, Raffaele Fitto. The FdI vote in the European Parliament will depend entirely on how the negotiations go.
Orban: “Soon an Italian party in the European Patriots group”
Meanwhile, Viktor Orban, in an interview with the Hungarian broadcaster M1, declared that “an Italian party will soon join the new group of ‘European Patriots’ in the European Parliament. “The Patriots for Europe group will quickly become one of the largest in Brussels, promoting national sovereignty and strong European cooperation without creating a centralized European state,” Orban said, highlighting what he described as the group’s rapid growth with the imminent addition of new members, including an Italian party.
Zanni (Lega): “Patriots? The most interesting project in the EU”
“The Patriots? It is the most interesting project for the alternative in Europe. And its catalyst is dissatisfaction with a system that does not work. And does not change”. This is what Marco Zanni, a member of the Northern League, president of the Eurogroup Identity and Democracy (ID), which Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement also adheres to, told Corriere della Sera. “Seeing the message of the voters disregarded once again and the attempt to cook up a majority without taking it into account is unacceptable,” he added. “There will be delegitimized European institutions, set up by the losers, two of whom came out of the elections with broken bones. The proof, after all, is the attitude towards the Italians.”
“It seemed very stupid to me to treat Giorgia Meloni like this. If they had involved her, they would not have strengthened the axis with which they will soon have to deal. Look also at the people chosen. Kaja Kallas, an excellent person, but appointing her as High Representative means giving up any possibility of a political role for the Union”.
Compared to the moves of the allies in Italy Meloni “makes a virtue of necessity. It is clear that she must maintain relations with whoever appears to be the president of the Commission. We raise a political question: if everyone claims that the Union must change, it seems strange that the one who has embodied the status quo up to now should lead the change”. Le Pen did not comment on the Patriots: “The project is in continuity with everything that Identity and Democracy has represented in recent years and even before, when the group was called Europe of Nations (ENF) of which Le Pen was a co-founder.” Could the Germans of AfD rejoin the Patriots? “Frankly, I don’t think that will happen. As for us, the French but also Orbán, I don’t think so.”
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