It was not taken for granted that the mission of the Meloni a Brussels, organized by the two precious sherpas of the leader of fdi in Europe, Raffaele Fitto e Carlo Fidanza, included the meeting with the president of the European parliament and the commissioner for economics Paolo Gentiloni, both leading exponents of that Democratic Party which in Italy is clearly the rival of Meloni. But in Europe Meloni does not present herself as a simple party leader, but as president of the ECR, the group of European conservatives, which in these days is engaged in fervent discussion on the hypothetical maxifusion of the center-right groups, as already proposed by Matteo Salvini.
It is therefore no coincidence that Giorgia Meloni met both the Polish leader in the two days in the European capital Mateusz Morawiecki and, above all, the Hungarian premier Orban. Someone pointed out how this could be seen as one challenge also in Europe to the coalition ally Matteo Salvini, who flew to Budapest on 1 April to meet the two leaders, to explore the possibilities of uniting in a single group in Europe. It is certainly no mystery that the Poles would look favorably on an expansion of the conservative party also to other forces present in Brussels, in order to be able to form a common front against the socialists, who seem to have taken over an EPP, which is increasingly in crisis. of identity. The intention of the Ecr could therefore be precisely to remove space and weight from the EPP “increasingly in the wake of socialists, liberals and greens” as Carlo Fidanza says.
The same Fidesz, after ‘exit from Ppe himself, according to some, would be interested in probing new opportunities in Europe, of which the landing in Ecr would be only one of the options. Orban, in fact, is looking for an edge in an increasingly hostile European parliament, which for some time seems to have targeted him, for his policies judged to be not very open and democratic, such as the case of the law aimed at banning the promotion of homosexuality among young people, which has sparked endless controversies, which have even come close to the European football championships. His choice to abandon the group of European popular was probably also the result of a polemical choice towards an attitude of the group a little too soft and not very cohesive in defending it against the continuous attacks of socialists, liberals and greens. Meloni has always been very careful to build a partnership with Orban, as the Hungarian leader’s visit to the party’s party in Rome in 2019 demonstrated.
So it is natural that even if only out of gratitude, the Hungarian leader can only look at the group that has headed Meloni for a few months. This European trip, which perhaps not surprisingly comes on the eve of an important European Council, was therefore an opportunity both to strongly reaffirm what is the vision of the group of European conservatives on crucial issues such as immigration, security and the post-pandemic economic recovery (it is said that Meloni asked Gentiloni, without delay, for clarification on the conditionalities of the European resilience and resistance plan and on the hypothetical new taxes envisaged), but also precisely to bring order to a European center-right a little confused. The fact that many commentators on this trip wanted to see yet another chapter of the quarrel between the two main leaders of the Italian center-right is perhaps more a question of custom and background, than a question of real politik. “Meloni has always maintained a coherent and firm position in Europe, as in Italy, but there are others who may have now changed their minds. However, no one wants competition between us and the League, neither in Italy nor in Europe.
We have only one goal, both in Europe and in Italy, to defeat the left, who are our only adversaries, the rest is pure fantasy. Giorgia now has an international stature, which currently few other Italian leaders can boast, certainly she is not the one who has to look for banks or credibility licenses as anyone “says an old senator of the party, very close to Meloni, making it clear clearly that if someone wants to plan alliances or federations, they must first talk about it with those who, in any case, already occupy a position of importance in Europe. In short, we will see in the coming months whether Salvini’s attempt in Italy to federate (but perhaps it would be more correct to say annexing) Forza Italia, will be successful or not. It is clear that such a step can only bring the League into the EPP, and therefore leave the control of the right with the Ecr group to Meloni, which will remain compact and to which at that point Orban will only be able to land and who knows maybe even the National Rassemblment of a Le Pen, which, in the lead in the polls for the presidential elections of the 22nd, certainly needs to find a position of greater weight than what the formation of Identity and Democracy can guarantee.