Italy criticizes Borrell for not consulting them about his envoy to the Middle East

2023-04-23 19:44:32

The Government of Giorgia Meloni has found a new complaint for the European Union (EU): criticize the Italian who has been elected as the new community envoy for the Middle East. The Italian exministro de Exteriores, Luigi Di Maio, “is not a candidate of the Italian government”, the current transalpine Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, stated this Sunday.

The Italian Executive has quickly mobilized in this way after the Italian press reported the decision of the high representative for Foreign Policy of the EU, the Spanish Josep Borrell, to opt for Di Maio for the position. A decision that has yet to be ratified by the European Comission.

As reported, the facts refer to Friday. That day Borrell sent a letter to the representatives of the European countries in which he argued that Di Maio “meets the profile necessary political international” to occupy the position and that, therefore, it is “the most suitable candidate“. Which angered several members of the Government Italian and, finally, provoked the reaction of Tajani.

“Is about a legitimate decision de Borrell, is among his faculties as high representative of the EU”, Tajani has argued. “However, Di Maio was singled out by (former Prime Minister Mario) Draghi, and he is not our candidate,” she specified.

A former leader of the 5 Stars

Since months ago the name of Di Maio was aired as one of the possible candidates to occupy the position, various voices within the Government of Giorgia Meloni spoke out repeatedly against of this possibility. Something that is mainly due to issues of domestic policy.

In fact, Di Maio has been in recent years one of the great opponents of the right-wing parties that currently govern Italy. Even helped found the 5 Star Movement (M5E), a party of which he was also the leader for three years (2017-2020), and which he left last year. A risky decision that he paid for in the last elections since he failed to be elected to the Italian Parliament.

With this as a starting point, the most irate comments have been precisely those of the ultra-right League by Matteo Salvini. “Italians have voted: they have chosen and continue to choose the center-right, not the left or the grillitos (for the M5E). The one in Brussels is a decision shameful, an insult to Italy”, sources from the League have explained, as reported by the Italian newspaper ‘La Repubblica’.