Von der Leyen, Costa and Kallas will lead the EU without the support of Meloni’s Italy

The Heads of State and Government of the European Union (EU) gave their green light this Thursday to the shortlist of names for the community institutional leadership for the next five yearsa pact in which finally They have not had the support of the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloniupset at having been excluded from previous negotiations.

In just under an hour of debate on the top positions, the leaders of the Twenty-Seven sealed a majority in favour of the distribution that the six negotiators of the main pro-European political families had “cooked” in recent weeks: Ursula von der Leyen president of the European Commission, António Costa president of the European Council and Kaja Kallas high representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

Recently nominated and at a press conference, Von der Leyen He assured that during the next three weeks before his confirmation vote in the European Parliament he will seek to “convince a strong majority for a strong Europe” and stressed that he wants to cooperate with parties and MEPs who are in favor of the European Union, of Ukraine before the Russian invasion and the rule of law.

From Portugal by videoconference, Coast He also assured that he assumes this responsibility “with an enormous sense of mission” and committed to promoting unity among the 27 member states and implementing the strategic agenda approved today by the Council, which will guide the European Union in the next five years.

And in Brussels, where she was participating in the summit as Prime Minister of Estonia, Kallas He pointed out that the main challenges he will face in EU diplomacy will be the war in Europe and instability in the EU neighbourhood and at the global level.

The agreement comes less than Three weeks after elections to the European Parliament that have drawn a hemicycle more tilted to the right but in which a centrist majority still remains, although narrower than in previous years. That European Parliament will be Von der Leyen’s next stop on the way to assuming the presidency of the European Commission again, since there he will have to find a majority of 361 MEPs on a chamber of 720 seats. Beyond the barely 400 seats that the Popular, Social Democrats and Liberals now have, the coalition that has sustained her previous mandate, Von der Leyen could seek more support from the Greens or from the Italian Prime Minister, who has precisely been one of the protagonists of the European summit.

Meloni and Orbán, excluded

Meloni, which belongs to the European Conservatives and Reformistshas publicly complained about having been excluded from talks between negotiators from the three main pro-European families to prepare a shortlist for the summit despite the fact that her parliamentary group is now the third largest in the European Parliament, ahead of the Liberals.

Although a group of the leaders of the Twenty-Seven, mainly from the European People’s Party, had advocated before the summit to try to have the support of the Italian for the new institutional leadership of the EU, it could not be: the Italian abstained on Von der Leyen’s nomination and voted against Kallas and Costa.

“I consider that it is a big mistake and above all a lack of respect for European citizens, for the vote expressed by citizens, and therefore I have decided to respect the citizens’ instructions. We do not support it”Meloni said at the end of the summit.

Also outside the consensus was the hungarian prime ministerViktor Orbán, who voted against Von der Leyen and abstained with Kallas, although he voted in favour of Costa, with whom he has a good relationship.

Diplomatic sources considered Orbán’s support lost, but they would have preferred to have Meloni’s support even if on paper it was not necessary, with a view to not strain the relationship with the Italian facing a legislature that seems complex.

“They are good people who guarantee good work and who will also ensure that Europe is well positioned in the coming years, in such difficult times,” said the German chancellor, Olaf Scholzthe negotiator for the Social Democratic family. Asked three times about Meloni’s reluctance, the German chancellor insisted that Von der Leyen must seek the support of the European Popular Party, Social Democrats and Liberals in the European Parliament and he was confident that this majority would be enough for the German to repeat in office.