League hits back at Tajani over 'irrelevance' comment

(ANSA) - ROME, JUL 20 - Deputy Premier and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini's League party hit back hard on Saturday at fellow Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who said the right-wing group risked being "irrelevant" in Europe after voting against European Commission Ursula von der Leyen's re-election this week.
    Tajani was commenting on the fact that the right-wing Patriots for Europe group that the League belongs to at the EU level did not have any of its members elected as vice-presidents of the European Parliament.
    Tajani's Forza Italia (FI) is part of von der Leyen's centre-right European People's Party (EPP).
    The Commission president's re-election was also backed by the Socialist S&D group, which Italy's centre-left Democratic Party (PD) belongs to, the liberal Renew Europe group and the Greens, but not by Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni's Conservative ECR group.
    "Voting with Schlein in order to get a position is embarrassing," League sources said referring to PD leader Elly Schlein.
    "It's better to not have any vice-presidents than to be with the Greens and the Left". (ANSA).