Deputy Premier and Transport Minister
Matteo Salvini's League party on Monday sparred with Premier
Giorgia Meloni over European allies ahead of June's EU
elections, calling on her to come out in favour of a broad
alliance that encompasses parties on the far right of the
political spectrum.
Salvini has been calling for a centre-right/right alliance like
the one that rules in Italy to be replicated at the European
level to prevent European Commission President Ursula von der
Leyen being re-elected via another grand coalition of the
European People's Party (EPP), the Liberals and the European
Socialists (PES).
This broad alliance would include the Identity and Democracy
(ID) group that the League belongs to and which also includes
the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and Marine Le
Pen's National Rally.
Foreign Minister and fellow Deputy Premier Antonio Tajani, the
leader of the centre-right Forza Italia (FI) party that belongs
to the EPP, has rejected the idea.
"For months the League has been calling for a united
centre-right, in Europe as in Italy," the League said in a
statement on Monday.
"Unfortunately, so far there have only been vetoes on Le Pen and
on the League's allies.
"We hope that no one in the coalition leading the country would
rather govern the EU with (French President Emmanuel) Macron and
the Socialists than with the League and its allies".
Earlier on Monday Meloni called on the parties of the ruling
coalition to stress what brings them together, rather than their
differences, in the campaign for the European elections.
"Everyone knows that my strategy is to make the centre-right the
ruling majority in Europe as well," she said in Potenza.
"In my opinion it is a mistake to split or try to split and base
the election campaign on divisions within the centre-right,
because this is the only favour one can do the Left".
Meloni's Brothers of Italy (FdI) party belongs to the European
Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group also featuring Poland's
Law and Justice party, Spain's Vox, the Sweden Democrats, the
Finns Party and France's Reconquest.
Other members of the League's ID caucus are Austria's Freedom
Party, the Danish People's Party, and Flemish Interest of
Belgium.
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