The confrontation in the center right over Marine Le Pen ignites. The announcement of the meeting between the leader of the Rassemblement National and the secretary of the League Matteo Salvini was enough to cause fibrillation in the majority. The face-to-face, which was to be held today in Rome, jumps “in light of the serious situation in France” – specifies a note from Carroccio – but the agitation continues: Forza Italia defines an alliance with Le Pen, the Lega “impossible” rejects the “dictations” and Salvini himself warns that he will not accept “vetos” to his allies in Europe. In the background is Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who does not expose herself, excludes “ongoing negotiations” but -in an interview with Corriere della Sera- makes it clear that her objective is to build, if not an organic alliance, an understanding between the popular and conservative of which he is a candidate to be a reference.
“There is certainly a growing awareness that the unnatural agreement between Populares and Socialistas is no longer adequate for the challenges facing Europe,” explains the Prime Minister, noting that “in Spain, where votes are held in July, a center-right government with popular and conservatives, after center-right governments have been installed in Italy, Sweden and Finland”, while “in Brussels, in individual measures, broader alternative alliances are being created to the left It is a stimulating phase in which the conservatives and Italy can play a central role.” Reading between the lines, and also from palace rumors, it would appear that Meloni has no intention of linking himself to Le Pen or other far-right forces in Europe. His strategy – as it leaks in parliamentary circles – would rather be weighed in the elections (hence the impossibility of a possible single centre-right list): strengthened by the possible consensus obtained, he would then like to hand over to the European conservatives, of which he is president, the role of needle in the balance in the alliances that will be created in Brussels and, above all, in the formation of the new EU Commission.
The Deputy Prime Minister and national coordinator of FI Antonio Tajani is in charge of making things clear. “I am also vice president of the European People’s Party and any agreement with Alternative fur Deutschland (Afd) and with Mrs. Le Pen’s party is impossible for us,” he said, asking himself: “How is Europe governed with those who are against Europe? With the League an agreement can also be made tomorrow morning but with Alternative für Deutschland and Le Pen it is impossible, it cannot be done today, tomorrow or the day after tomorrow”. The harsh reply from Carroccio arrives shortly and is entrusted to the deputies Marco Zanni and Marco Campomenosi. “This is not the time for dictates, nor to decide a priori who to exclude from the European center-right project, especially if it comes from those who until now have gone hand in hand with the PD and the socialists in the EU,” they point out. say.
From within the Carroccio, however, someone remembers that during the Bossi era the party was part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE). A circumstance that does not prevent Salvini himself from making the message even more peremptory: in the afternoon he still manages to have a video link with Le Pen and assures that “the League will never go with the left and the socialists and I do not accept vetoes to our allies”, acknowledging to the leaders of the Rassemblement National that “the only center-right present in a great country like France is you” and launching a meeting with all the leaders of the Identity and Democracy group. The deputy prime minister’s opinion is that a part of the EPP wants to look to the right and break once and for all the agreements with the left and thus reaffirms Le Pen’s determination to build a common center-right house as an alternative to the socialists, without vetoes.
