European Commission President Ursula
von der Leyen will negotiate directly with Italian Premier
Giorgia Meloni for the future EU majority, not as leader of the
EU Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) but as Italian prime
minister, to decide which portfolio will be reserved for Italy
in the next European Commission, international media reported
Tuesday after an agreement emerged on the EU top jobs between
the EC chief's European People's Party (EPP), the Socialists,
and the Liberals, whose majority has been confirmed.
According to German daily FAZ, the EPP negotiators are expected
to have talks with Meloni Tuesday afternoon to inform her.
Von der Leyen and Meloni have good relations and have been on a
number of foreign trips together, especially on setting up
development projects to stem migration to the EU and bust
trafficking gangs.
They are also linked by a joint strong position on staunch
support for UKraine against the Russian aggression and invasion.
European Affairs, Cohesion, South and Recovery and National
Resilience Plan (NRRP) Minister Raffaele Fitto is reportedly
Meloni's pick for what she hopes will be a prominent EC
position, possibly as one of the vice presidents.
Earlier Tuesday the EPP reportedly agreed on its long-rumoured
trio of von der Leyen at the EC, former Portuguese premier
Antonio Costa at the European Council, and Estonian Prime
Minister Kaja Kallas as High Representative for Foreign Affairs
and Security Policy as the three top jobs for the next European
legislature.
Also on Tuesday, Meloni accused the domestic opposition of
adopting "violent" methods and defended her government's
reforms, including the recently approved law bringing in
'differentiated autonomy'.
A brawl broke out in the Lower House before the controversial
measure, which will enable regions to request more power over
how the tax revenues collected in their areas are spent and
which critics say will widen the north-south gap, won final
approval last week.
MPs from Meloni's party and the League tried to assault an
opposition MP who tried to put an Italian flag around the
shoulders of the League minister responsible for the law.
"We are patriots who know which way to fly the flag," Meloni
said on Facebook in a possible reference to opposition MPs
holding up Italian flags during protests against the reforms.
"We are working for all citizens to have the same rights.
"One M5S (5-Star Movement) MP called for Loreto for me," she
said, referring to the Milan square where Benito Mussolini was
hung upside down after being killed by Partisans at the end of
World War II.
"And the Left makes blacklists. I think the violent ways of the
Left are a desperate defence of the status quo, a defence of
privilege that has protected the few, at the expense of the
majority of Italians.
"We have promised to change things. We will go ahead without
being intimidated, always in the interest of the nation,'" she
concluded, accusing the opposition of using "the irresponsible
language of a civil war".
Opposition parties say differentiated autonomy will worsen
Italy's north-south divide, by favouring wealthier regions in
the north.
It is one of several reforms that the opposition are fiercely
contesting.
Another, the government's move to introduce the direct election
of the premier by the Italian people, completed its first
passage through the Senate a week ago, having already gone
through the House.
Meloni says it will boost democracy and stability, but
opposition parties say it could lead to an authoritarian drift.
The premier said Tuesday that Achille Occhetto, the last
secretary of the Italian Communist Party and the first leader of
the PDS, a forerunner of the current centre-left Democratic
Party (PD), had wanted a reform of this kind 30 years ago,
putting him ahead of current PD chief Elly Schlein.
Most of the Italian opposition parties staged a rally in Rome
last Tuesday to "defend national unity" in the face of these
reforms and also to protest against alleged "violence and
intimidation" by the ruling coalition after an M5S MP needed
medical attention following the above-mentioned brawl.
Eleven MPs were suspended over the ugly scenes, with League MP
Igor Iezzi getting the longest ban, 15 days, for allegedly
trying to land punches.
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