Matteo Salvini on Saturday envisaged “a League-led center-right government from next year”. If so, the secretary of the Carroccio would seem to indicate the early end of the legislature. It was probably a more or less Freudian slip. But he certainly wanted to make it clear – with the “League leader” – that he has no intention of abdicating the leadership of the coalition. A message that has Giorgia Meloni among its main recipients. The two keep repeating that they will make a common front on the budget law but Salvini is not willing to give space to the president of Fdi, with whom the relationship remains tense, competitive. This is also confirmed by the latest back-and-forth on the primaries for the choice of candidates for the administrative next spring, as well as the discussion on the birth of the new unitary group of the sovereign right in Europe on which Salvini has been working for some time.
Salvini and the European sovereignists
The leader of the Northern League recalled that next December 3rd and 4th he will be in Warsaw, at the invitation of Jarosław Kaczyński, the president of Pis, the party of Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. “It will be an opportunity to discuss new balances in Brussels, but above all to address the issue of the defense of European borders,” said Salvini with reference to the emergency caused by the pressure on the Polish borders with Belarus. The central theme, however, will be the birth of the new sovereign group. Times are tight: it must be launched by Christmas, because in January we will be halfway through the legislature and all the offices and presidencies will be renewed, starting with that of the Parliament now led by David Sassoli. And in fact Kaczyński has extended the invitation to other potential allies as well: from Viktor Orban to Marine Le Pen and, of course, to Giorgia Meloni who, in addition to leading the Brothers of Italy, is also the president of the ECR, the conservative party, which in Strasbourg has the largest patrol (27 deputies) in the Poles of the Pis.
The distrust of Meloni
Until now, Meloni has always rejected the invitation to merge with his Italian ally and Le Pen. But to contribute to this choice was also the Polish partner who did not want to have anything to do with the president of the Rassemblement National, considering her too close to Vladimir Putin. Over the last year, however, hostility towards Le Pen has subsided also thanks to Salvini’s mediation. The other important piece that should enter the sovereign group is Viktor Orban with Fidesz, who after the forced exit (he was about to be kicked out) from the EPP, preferred to keep his hands free waiting to understand where to land.
Who is now at the crossroads is Meloni. After struggling to gain accreditation in Europe, keeping his distance from both Salvini and far-right parties such as the Afd Germans, he now risks having to start over. In fact worse. In a new group with Salvini the largest shareholder (the Lega has 24 deputies against 8 of Fdi), Meloni risks being reduced, not only in Strasbourg but also in Rome. In recent days, the Conservative Bureau issued a statement which reaffirms “the clear desire to keep the Ecr group united and strengthen in the second half of the mandate”. But in politics, statements are often written on water. Kaczyński’s invitation to Salvini and the other leaders is more than a signal. Meloni also knows. And for this reason, perhaps, it has not yet announced its participation in the Warsaw summit.