Italy’s Salvini convinced new EU alliance with Orban will overtake Meloni’s ECR

4 months ago 13

The new alliance Patriots for Europe, led by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and seeking to form a political group in the European Parliament, will overtake Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s ECR, Matteo Salvini, who is aligning himself more closely with the new group, said on Sunday.

“We are building the Patriots group, aiming to be the third-largest in the entire Parliament: conditions will be met this week for an official announcement that will change the balance in Brussels,” Salvini, Italian deputy prime minister and leader of Lega – the party that is currently in the Eurosceptic EU group ID – told Libero in an interview on Sunday.

Given that both groups are far-right, there are fears that other parties could follow the lead of VOX, which announced on Friday that it was switching from the ECR to the Patriots.

For example, it is possible that the most Eurosceptic groups will distance themselves from the ECR because of Meloni’s ambiguous stance on Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Despite the tense situation on the European front, Salvini has pledged his loyalty to his government in, which his party governs alongside the majority party, Fratelli d’Italia, led by Meloni, and Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani’s Forza Italia.

“The Italian government will continue, determined, united, and concrete until the autumn of 2027, not a day less,” he said on Sunday.

Tajani, whose party is a key member of the EPP, commented on Orbán’s Patriot group on Friday, calling it “irrelevant.”

“Until the other day (Salvini) was in the ID group, which is transforming into the Patriots. But it’s still not there”, he said.

“It is unclear whether there will be enough nations to form it. And anyway, it is irrelevant because no one wants to deal with them if there are anti-European positions and opposition to EU principles,” Tajani added.

(Alessia Peretti | Euractiv.it)