The situation on the European extreme right until now resembled those riddles in which a farmer had to carry a fox, a chicken and a sack of wheat to the other side of the shore and in the same boat: there was always one that ate the other. The two European groups that make up the spectrum of the extreme right in Europe—Identity and Democracy (Le Pen, Salvini…) and the Conservative and Reformist Europeans (Meloni, Vox…)—had in their ranks members who were undesirable to others. Or simply incompatible due to their internal electoral competition. The main obstacle, however, was the far-right group Alternative for Germany (AfD), on the blacklist of any major Western administration. But he was expelled last week. The purge, then, has begun. And some believe that they could iron out their differences and form a great alliance led by the two alpha women of the extreme right. In Italy it looks complicated.
“Now is the time to come together,” he said. Corriere della Sera last Saturday Marine Le Pen. “And if we succeed, we can become the second group in the European Parliament.” Both parties have a significantly different character. While the ECR group has tried to maintain more institutional positions, despite having radical parties in its ranks, Identity and Democracy (ID) has always been much closer to the ultra sectors. Meloni, president of ECR, is the only one in this entire spectrum who governs a major country in the European Union. An aspect that has led it to more moderate positions – such as the signing of the Stability Pact or the migration agreement – when agreements that benefited Italy had to be reached.
Various maneuvers within the European extreme right have been underway for weeks. Last Thursday, the ID group, which actually includes the French National Regrouping (RN) and the Italian League, expelled the German AfD, which until then had been the third most influential party in the group. This measure, for the moment, has considerably weakened ID in terms of the number of parliamentarians, but it has also been interpreted as an intention by the group’s parties to distance themselves, at least apparently, from the extremist ideas of the AfD, in order to make themselves more presentable. at European level. During an interview on the program In mezz’ora, broadcast on Rai 3 on Sunday, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni declared that she was open to alliances with any non-leftist party in the European Parliament, implicitly including Le Pen’s RN. But the Italian president avoids commenting directly on the French woman’s offer.
The post-electoral alliance is an unavoidable path for both parties if they want to have any chance of influencing the new European Parliament. But the Italian party is not clear about Le Pen’s entry into the ECR group or the creation of a new container to accommodate the French RN party. This, among other things, would also imply integrating the League of Matteo Salvini, a close friend and ally of Le Pen. But also a minority partner of Meloni and a permanent adversary for the conquest of an electoral space in Italy. “That is the main internal problem,” say party sources. But it could be resolved.
Suspicion in the US
Meloni believes that Le Pen could become the first president of the French Republic in the 2027 elections, and that is an incentive to maintain a good relationship and form a great axis between Italy and France. However, for now, the Italian Prime Minister is playing with cards in the European Commission that she would hardly be able to continue maintaining if she ran with Le Pen. Marine Le Pen is viewed with great suspicion by the European establishment and, especially, by the United States. Her Euroskepticism and flirtation with Vladimir Putin’s Russia arouse enormous distrust in Washington and NATO, with whom Meloni has cultivated a close relationship and absolute loyalty.
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There are also problems of balance of forces. It is foreseeable that RN will obtain a considerably greater number of deputies in the next European elections than Brothers of Italy. An uncomfortable fact for the Italian prime minister, who would bring a party larger than hers into her house. A movement that the Brothers of Italy consider would not make any sense right now. In any case, any rapprochement, a party source clarifies, should occur after the elections. “What signal would we send to the voters if we said that it is the same to vote for the League or for the Brothers of Italy because they will be part of the same group?” they point out. Something symmetrical to what would happen, in reality, to Le Pen with her national far-right rival, Éric Zemmour. Reconquista, his party, is part of ECR.
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