Indication of Di Maio as EU Gulf envoy gets mixed reactions

(ANSA) - ROME, APR 23 - The indication by the EU High Representative Josep Borrell of former foreign minister and ex Five Star Movement (M5S) leader Luigi Di Maio as EU Special Representative for the Gulf met mixed reactions from politicians on Sunday, with some hailing the choice as good news and others describing it as "an insult" to Italy.
    "If Europe chooses an Italian as its special envoy, it is certainly good news for the country as a whole, unless we want to once again export our petty quarrels to the EU level," said Senator and former Lower House Speaker Pier Ferdinando Casini.
    "Good luck to Luigi Di Maio with his work," said Ettore Rosato of the centrist formation Action-IV.
    "Having an Italian there is always good news for our country," he added.
    Former foreign minister and Lower House Speaker Gianfranco Fini said he was "delighted".
    "I hope he is up to such a difficult task, it will be interesting to see how he will perform the mandate," said Fini during current affairs talk show 'Mezz'ora in più' on Rai 3.
    However centre-right Forza Italia Senator Maurizio Gasparri described the choice as "absurd and shameful".
    "It disqualifies the proponents and the European Union itself," he added.
    "Di Maio is totally inadequate. The mere fact of considering him casts ridicule on those who do so. Enough of these incapable armchair grabbers," Gasparri said.
    In a statement right-wing League Senators said the decision to indicate Di Maio was "politically outrageous" and an "affront to the will of Italians who last September 25 expressed themselves clearly by choosing the center-right" in general elections.
    (ANSA).