The confrontation in the center-right on Marine Le Pen ignites. The announcement of the meeting between the leader of the Rassemblement National and the secretary of the League Matteo Salvini was enough to cause fibrillation in the majority. The face-to-face, which was to be held today in Rome, jumps “in the light of the serious situation in France” – specifies a note from the Carroccio – but the agitation remains: Forza Italia defines an alliance with Le Pen, the Lega “impossible” rejects the “dictates” and Salvini himself warns that he will not accept “vetoes” on his allies in Europe. In the background remains Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who does not expose herself, excludes “negotiations in progress” but – in an interview with Corriere della Sera – makes it clear that she aims to build, if not an organic alliance, an understanding between the popular and conservatives of which it is a candidate to be a point of reference.
“Certainly there is a growing awareness that the unnatural agreement between Populars and Socialists is no longer adequate for the challenges Europe is facing”, explains the Prime Minister, noting that “in Spain, where votes are held in July, a center-right government with popular and conservatives, after centre-right governments have established themselves in Italy, Sweden and Finland”, while “in Brussels, on individual measures, broader alternative alliances are being created to the left. It is a stimulating phase in which the conservatives and the Italy can play a central role”. Reading between the lines, and also according to the rumors from the palace, it would seem that Meloni has no intention of tying himself to Le Pen or other far-right forces in Europe. His strategy – according to what filters from parliamentary circles – would instead be to weigh himself in the elections (hence the impossibility of a possible single list of the centre-right): strengthened by the possible consensus obtained, he would then like to deliver to the European conservatives, of which he is president, the role of needle of the balance in the alliances that will be created in Brussels and above all, in the formation of the new EU Commission.
The deputy premier and national coordinator of FI Antonio Tajani takes care of making things clear. “I am also the vice-president of the European People’s Party and any agreement with Alternative fur deutschland (Afd) and with Mrs. Le Pen’s party is impossible for us”, he ruled, wondering: “How do you govern Europe with those who are against Europe? With the League, an agreement can also be made tomorrow morning but with Alternative für Deutschland and Le Pen it is impossible, it cannot be made today or tomorrow or the day after tomorrow”. The harsh reply of the Carroccio arrives shortly and is entrusted to the deputies Marco Zanni and Marco Campomenosi. “This is not the time for diktats, nor for deciding a priori who to exclude from the European center-right project, especially if this comes from those who have so far been arm in arm with the Pd and socialists in the EU”, they say.
From within the Carroccio, however, someone recalls that during the Bossi era the party was part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE). A circumstance that does not prevent Salvini himself from making the message even more peremptory: in the afternoon he still manages to have a video link with Le Pen and assures that “the League will never go with the left and the socialists and I do not accept vetoes on our allies”. acknowledging to the leaders of the Rassemblement National that “the only centre-right present in a large country like France is you” and launching a meeting with all the leaders of the Identity and Democracy group. The deputy premier’s belief is that a slice of the EPP wishes to look to the right and sever once and for all the agreements with the left and therefore reaffirms Le Pen’s determination to build a common home of the centre-right as an alternative to the socialists, without vetoes.