Meloni seeks to strengthen in Europe after establishing itself in Italy

Italian Prime Minister and leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, is growing stronger in the pre-alpine country: in the last regional elections, his party achieved excellent results, defeating both the center-left opposition and its partners in government, the League (extreme right) and Forza Italia (liberal).

But statements by leading members of the League and Forza Italia about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are causing unease in high-ranking EU positions, just as Meloni maintains an ambitious political strategy for the 2024 European elections.

In January, the leader of the League group in the Senate, Massimiliano Romeo, said that the idea “that peace can only come with the defeat or, worse, the humiliation of Moscow,” must be abandoned. A few days ago, the eighty-year-old leader of Forza Italia, Silvio Berlusconisaid that Meloni was wrong to talk to Volodymyr Zelenskyi, the Ukrainian president, and added: “It was enough that [Zelenski] stop attacking the two autonomous republics of donbas and this [la guerra] that wouldn’t happen. I have a very, very negative view of that man’s behavior.

For the Ukrainian government, “Berlusconi’s senseless accusations against Zelenskiy are an attempt to kiss Putin’s bloody hands”, but the words of the leader of Forza Italia were deemed unacceptable in Brussels and Strasbourg. Not only the socialists, but also the European People’s Party (EPP) to which Forza Italia belongs. EPP President Manfred Weber announced on the networks that after Berlusconi’s comments on Ukraine, his party decided to cancel his study days in Naples scheduled for June because “supporting Ukraine is not an option.” But, he added, both Forza Italia and Antonio Tajani, the Italian foreign minister and Berlusconi’s right-hand man in this formation, still have the full support of the EPP.

Tajani tries to organize a meeting between Weber and Berlusconi to clear things up, but the government led by Meloni distanced himself from the tycoon’s words, repeating Italy’s strong support for Ukraine. Right-wing parliamentarians consulted by La Voz emphasize that statements like Berlusconi’s “can be misinterpreted, also by those in Europe who do not approve of Italy’s new role.”

Melons is trying to convince the EPP to leave the coalition with the socialists and liberalsand form an alliance with European conservatives and reformists for the 2024 elections. According to the Italian press, Weber is tempted by the offer of the Italian prime minister, who has several allies, such as the Maltese center-right, from which European Parliament President Roberta Metsola also comes, and supporters, such as the Polish right.

But Meloni’s strategy runs into two obstacles: statements like Berlusconi’s, which weaken Italy’s credibility abroad; and the hostility of France, since it is clear to President Macron that an alliance between populists and conservatives would weaken the weight in the European Parliament of Renew Europe, a liberal group in which Paris has a lot of weight.