From the popular Europeans comes the endorsement for Antonio Tajani, indicated as very likely the next foreign minister. The vice president of Forza Italia and party coordinator arrives in Brussels the following day the audio of Silvio Berlusconi on Putin and Ukraine, an event that is creating many embarrassments among the European partners, despite the subsequent official positions. “I am here to confirm once again the position of my party, my personal position and the position of the leader of my party totally in favor of NATO and transatlantic relations, in favor of Europe and against the unacceptable Russian invasion of Ukraine »said Tajani, who in Brussels is well known for his role in the past as president of the European Parliament, formerly a commissioner and a longtime member of the European Parliament.
The support of Weber and Metsola
«I am happy that Antonio Tajani is with us here today. His position is crystal clear. He is the bridge between Forza Italia’s strong position in the national Parliament and the European pillar in Brussels, which is why I am delighted that he is here. He is the guarantor of this pro-European and pro-Atlantic approach ”said the president of the EPP group in the European Parliament and of the party Manfred Weber, in Brussels on the sidelines of the presummit of the Popolari. “For me Italy is at the center of the European Union. I have known Antonio Taiani for many, many years, he is a committed European. He is a true competent atlantist. He is an Italian committed to ensuring that Italy remains at the center and in the heart of Europe ”added the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola.
The path from journalist to president of the European Parliament
So from the EPP comes a solid help for the candidacy to the foreign ministry, even if the next few hours will certainly be decisive. Tajani, Roman, 71 years old, for years a journalist at “Il Giornale”, at the beginning of Berlusconi’s political “career” he was his spokesperson, later also at Palazzo Chigi, but already in July 1994 he was elected in Strasbourg, where he will leave only in the phase of European commissioner, first to Transport (2008-2010), then to Industry (2010-2014) with an interlude of national politics with the candidacy for mayor of Rome in 2001, being beaten in the ballot by Walter Veltroni, still obtaining 47.8%. He was President of the European Parliament from 2017 to 2019.
The street named after him in Spain
With regard to his role as commissioner, one thing must be remembered, which is quite rare. In 2014 in Spain, in Gijón (a city of 284 thousand inhabitants, located in the region of Asturias, on the Bay of Biscay), a street was named “Via Antonio Tajani”: the initiative was promoted by the Communist trade union “Commission of workers ”Which operated in the main local company, the multinational Tenneco, in 2012 on the verge of bankruptcy. According to the workers, it was Tajani himself, with his interventions by the Commission in favor of industry, who saved and revived the company.