Giorgia Meloni could be EU kingmaker as Italy
goes to polls
Italian PM courted by far right and centre ground as
European parliamentary elections begin
Clea
Skopeliti
Sat 8 Jun
2024 17.54 CEST
Italians
cast their ballots on Saturday as Italy became the first key player to vote in
the European parliamentary elections, which could lead to far-right leader,
Giorgia Meloni, acting as kingmaker.
Far-right
parties are expected to make gains in the elections, as most countries,
including EU heavyweights France and Germany, go to the polls on Sunday.
Projected results are expected late on Sunday evening.
While an
increase in support for the far right is expected, with such parties expected
to win a quarter of seats, the centrist mainstream is still forecast to emerge
as the main force in the EU parliament.
Meloni, who
was elected on a platform largely focused on immigration, shared a social media
video message on Saturday in which she said her priorities were to “defend
Europe’s borders against illegal immigration (and) protect the real economy and
jobs”.
Italy,
which will hold 76 of the 720 seats in the new parliament, could play a crucial
role deciding the balance of power in the bloc. With polls suggesting Meloni’s
Brothers of Italy party may gain 27% of the vote – up from just 6.4% in the
2019 EU elections – Italy’s prime minister could decide the political fate of
the European Commission chief, Ursula von der Leyen, and whether she receives
sufficient backing to secure a second term.
The
question of whether von der Leyen’s European People’s Party (EPP) will agree to
work with the far right is likely to prove decisive after the vote: von der
Leyen has suggested she is willing for the EPP to collaborate with far-right
lawmakers, provided they are pro-EU and not what she describes as “puppets” of
Vladimir Putin.
The EU
Commission chief has explicitly ruled out working with the French far-right
leader Marine Le Pen, whose National Rally (RN) party is also topping the polls
in the EU race, or with Germany’s AfD, over this issue. Hungary’s ruling
populist Fidesz party is opposed to aiding Kyiv, with the prime minister,
Viktor Orbán, widely regarded as the EU’s most pro-Russian leader.
But von der
Leyen appears to be more relaxed about working with Meloni and some fellow
members of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group. “I’ve been
working very well with Giorgia Meloni”, who is “clearly pro-European”, she has
said.
Underlining
the pivotal role Meloni may come to play in the bloc’s arrangement of power,
the Italian leader has been courted by Le Pen, who aims to form a rightwing
supergroup in the parliament, but also the centre-right von der Leyen.
Socialists,
liberals and greens, who are concerned that Meloni could demand a dilution of
EU climate measures in exchange for support for the EU Commission president,
have threatened to oppose von der Leyen’s reappointment if she makes any deals
with the far right.
Slovakia
also went to the polls on Saturday, following an assassination attempt last
month on its premier, Robert Fico. Fico’s leftwing populist Smer-SD party,
which opposes sending EU arms to Ukraine, appears to have drawn support after
the incident.
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