Italian FM: alliance between EPP, ID is impossible

It is not possible to ally with the European People’s Party (EPP) and the Identity and Democracy (ID) group, said Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani (Forza Italia) during EPP leader Manfred Weber’s trip to Rome.

On Thursday, the two leaders spoke at the conference ‘With Christian Values at the Centre: the Ruling Class for the Europe of Today and Tomorrow’, where they also discussed the 2024 European elections and the ‘alternative to the left’ majority they want to form in the EU Parliament.

“As EPP, we are fighting for a stronger Europe: whoever will be our ally in the future must be convinced that they want to participate in a common project to strengthen Europe. It is only European unity that can cope with issues such as migration, the challenge with China and the war in Ukraine”, Weber said.

“We will do everything so that there can be a change” in the EP, said Tajani, who advocates an alliance between the centre-right (EPP), conservatives (ECR) and liberals (Renew), i.e. the same one that elected him president of the European Parliament in 2017, defeating “Greens, Leftists and Communists”.

Tajani’s plan, however, not only does not take into account the fact that Renew has already explicitly ruled out any alliance with “those dealing with the extremes” but also excludes the Identity and Democracy (ID) group.

To the latter belongs Matteo Salvini’s League, a Forza Italia (EPP) government ally in Italy along with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Fratelli d’Italia (Conservatives – ECR).

“The possible alliance can be made between Conservatives, Liberals and Populars [EPP]. It is not possible to make an alliance with ID”, Tajani clarified, pointing out that in Italy, on the other hand, the alliance with the League continues and works both in government and in regions and municipalities.

An internal debate is underway within the League to decide how to position itself in Europe and whether to continue to be part of the ID. A faction of the party complains about the extreme positions of the German party Alternativ für Deutschland (Afd) and instead aspires to be part of the European People’s Party to confirm itself as an all-round ‘party of government’.

“The League is very different from Afd, but let the League decide what to do, whether to remain in that political family or make other choices. I absolutely respect the will of that party, it will be up to them to decide what to do in Europe”, explained Tajani, who also recently voiced criticism for Marine Le Pen, leader of the French Rassemblement National (ID) party and close ally of Matteo Salvini.

“No extremism, we have nothing to do with Ms Marine Le Pen […] The centre-right is not connected to Le Pen”, said Tajani, triggering a reaction from the League in Brussels, which said it is “proudly” a friend and ally of the French leader.

To a question about the possible entry of the League into the EPP, Weber vaguely answered: “Our goal is to work on content, people are not interested in strategic issues. People want solutions to their problems such as inflation and illegal immigration, and that is what we are working on”.

Conversely, the League was very clear in its response to Tajani’s words, ruling out joining the EPP.

“The Populars (EPP), those who have been misruling in the EU for decades, arm in arm with socialists and the left? No, thank you”, reads a note from ID group president Marco Zanni and the head of the League’s delegation to the European Parliament, Marco Campomenosi.

“We have to take note, perhaps, that the EPP prefers to continue the path with Macron and the Left and the Ursula majority. The League is working to count more in Europe and change this EU that doesn’t work, starting precisely from those rules that affect Italy that socialists and popular activists have promoted and voted for in recent years. We want to remedy all the wrong choices that penalise Italian companies, workers and families, not join those who have reduced Europe like this”, the note continues.

In the same hours, a delegation of MEPs from Identity and Democracy, these days in Madrid for the ID group’s ‘Study Days’, met with representatives of Vox and the party’s president Santiago Abascal, Meloni’s ally and part of the Conservative group (ECR) in the European Parliament.

“Cordial, friendly and full of important discussions to build a different Europe from the current one, to put the interests of citizens and the prerogatives of the member states back at the centre”, said Lega sources.

(Federica Pascale | EURACTIV.it)

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