Giorgia Meloni, courted by everyone for alliances after the 9-J elections

In a matter of months, the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, has gone from being plagued in Brussels for its Euroscepticism and radicalism to the absolute protagonist of the campaign for the European elections of 9-J. The match of her, Brothers of Italy, leads the polls in his country and could send up to 25 seats to Strasbourg. His voice will also be decisive in the European Council in the distribution of senior EU positions. Everyone courts her and Meloni lets herself be lovedalthough at the moment he does not show his cards.

In the great conclave of radical right forces organized by Vox in Madrid on May 19, the Italian prime minister did show her total affinity with the Abascal formation. “Dear Santiago, my friend: we began our common path in the European Parliament in 2019 and since then our political journeys have always been very similar. From the first moment they tried to despise us, they tried to isolate us, they tried to divide us and they ended up strengthening us,” Meloni said in a live intervention by videoconference.

[Elecciones europeas: guía para entender lo que está en juego el 9-J en Bruselas]

Currently, radical right forces are active in three different political groups in the European Parliament. On the one hand there are the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), where Meloni, Vox, the Poles from Law and Justice or Marion Maréchal’s Reconquista are integrated. The other large ultra group is Identity and Democracy (ID), the home of the National Regrouping of Le Pen; the League of Matteo Salvini; or the PVV of Geert Wilders.

Finally, Fidesz Viktor Orbánsince her traumatic departure from the PPE, is in the Non-Registered group, where she has also been exiled Alternative for Germany (AfD) after his expulsion from Identity and Democracy for being too radical. At a campaign event, Le Pen offered Meloni to join forces in a single supergroup in order to gain strength in Brussels after 9-J. “We should not waste an opportunity like this,” says the leader of the National Rally, which leads all polls in France.

“Is very unlikely that a large far-right group will form right after the elections,” Cas Mudde, professor of Politics at the University of Georgia in the United States and one of the world’s leading experts on far-right and populism, explains to EL ESPAÑOL. “Leaving aside the new problems within ID -es i.e. the expulsion of AfD-, there are tensions within ECR over the possibility of Fidesz joining. AND Meloni will want to keep his options open as long as possible“he argues.

In his combative speech in Madrid, Meloni painted the European Union as “a bureaucratic giant that aims to regulate all aspects of our lives” and that wants to “force its citizens to welcome masses of irregular immigrants against their will” instead of protecting their external borders. Their particular bête noire is “the madness called Green Pact“, the set of rules proposed by Von der Leyen and approved this legislature to achieve the goal of zero emissions in 2050.

[Le Pen ofrece a Meloni unir sus fuerzas para que la ultraderecha sea el segundo grupo en la UE]

“In recent years, the EU has been required to decide what we could or could not eat, how we should or should not renovate our houses, what car we could or could not drive, what technology our company could or could not use. They used the alibi of defending nature to launch an attack on our freedom.“says the Italian Prime Minister.

Among his enemies, Meloni also pointed out those who deny the “Christian roots” of Europe, those who “want to introduce gender theories in schools,” or “those who want to promote inhumane practices such as surrogacy.” “Us we will fight against those -like the left blinded by the desire to erase identities- who intend to use Brussels to impose their globalist and nihilist agenda“, announces the Italian Prime Minister.

Even after having heard this speech – in which he also harshly criticized the European People’s Party for “having supported unnatural agreements with the left“-, Von der Leyen has publicly said during the campaign that she is willing to collaborate with Meloni. The German has governed this legislature supported by a great coalition of popular, socialists and liberals. But she knows that, if she wants to renew as president of the Commission, she will need the support of the Italian in the European Council. And above all, her votes in the European Parliament, especially if the rise of the extreme right that all the polls predict is confirmed.

“I have worked very well with Giorgia Meloni.” Von der Leyen maintains that the Italian prime minister is “clearly pro-European” and also meets the requirement of supporting Ukraine and being against Vladimir Putin. In contrast, the president of the Community Executive rules out any type of collaboration with Le Pen or Alternative for Germany. “They are friends of Putin and want to destroy Europe. We’re not going to let that happen,” she alleges.

[La carrera de Von der Leyen para repetir en la Comisión tropieza con las dudas de Macron]

“For Le Pen there would only be advantages in forming a far-right supergroup. But For Meloni, being in the same group as Le Pen would mean antagonizing most European leaders, including Macron, Von der Leyen and Scholz. He would also renounce his role as a bridge between the European Conservatives and Reformists and the European People’s Party,” Luigi Scazzieri, researcher at the European People’s Party, tells this newspaper. Center for European Reform.

Although there are precedents (in the previous legislature it had the support of Law and Justice), An explicit pact with Meloni could cost Von der Leyen dearly. The European Socialists assure that they will never accept any alliance with the European Conservatives and Reformists. “The extreme right, regardless of whether it is active in the ECR group or in ID in Parliament, is not part of the pro-European majority. It is impossible to select parties from these groups,” said its president, Stefan Löfven.

“In Italy, Giorgia Meloni questions press freedom and supports activists in abortion clinics. It rubs shoulders with Reconquista and Law and Justice, which has trampled the rule of law in Poland. I will not negotiate with them. Our coalition will be pro-European,” the candidate of Macron’s liberals said this Tuesday, Valerie Hayer. Without the support of the socialists and liberals, Von der Leyen will hardly be able to reach the absolute majority of 361 votes that she needs to be ratified in the European Parliament.