Scholz says little about Melioni’s victory in Italy

by time news

Dhe Federal Government initially reacted very cautiously to the Italian election result. A deputy government spokesman said on Monday that they wanted to wait for the official result. Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is of the opinion that Italy is “a very pro-Europe country with pro-Europe citizens”; he assumes “that this will not change”.

However, the federal government is obviously preparing for the fact that cooperation in certain policy areas, such as sea rescue in the Mediterranean and the reception and accommodation of those rescued, will become much more difficult. It could also be the case that answers to certain questions within the EU are now being blocked by Italy, Poland and Hungary. On the other hand, it is pointed out that the new Italian government will not have much leeway in economic and financial policy either.

The chairman of the Bundestag’s Europe Committee, Anton Hofreiter (Greens), sees Italy’s financial situation as a lever to influence the policies of the new government. He said Italy was in dire need of European funds. That is why “one must make it clear that the moment they do not comply with the law, these funds will be blocked”. The SPD foreign politician Achim Post spoke on Monday of a “bitter day for everyone who wants a strong and democratic Europe” and that the new government is “a heavy burden” for European cohesion.

Söder reprimands Manfred Weber

CDU General Secretary Mario Czaja stated that his party “desired a different election result”. CSU chairman Markus Söder reprimanded his deputy Manfred Weber for his support for Berlusconi’s Forza Italia. “Forza Italia is not the partner that we consider right,” said Söder on Monday in Munich. It is “not the task of the EPP and bourgeois parties to enable right-wing national and right-wing extremist governments, that is not our job”.

The foreign policy spokesman for the FDP parliamentary group, Ulrich Lechte, judged that, on the one hand, “a right-wing extremist alliance in the heart of Europe” definitely represents another institutional stress test. On the other hand, Giorgia Meloni is considered a transatlantic and supporter of the EU and NATO. Therefore, the expectation is that she will lead Italy “as a reliable partner”.

The Left Party commented on the outcome of the election that “the last days of a liberal and free Italy” ended. Your national managing director Tobias Bank spoke of “a black day for all of Europe”. The AfD federal chairmen Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla, on the other hand, announced that the Italians had decided on a new government “with good democratic rights”. The success of the centre-right alliance is “another victory of reason”.

Warning of Italian conditions in France

The result was also evaluated differently in France. After the extreme right won the elections in Italy, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne insisted on the protection of fundamental rights in all EU member states. “In Europe we have a set of values ​​and of course we will be careful that these values ​​are respected by everyone in terms of human rights and the right to abortion,” Borne said on BFMTV on Monday.

Former President François Hollande warned of Italian conditions in France. “The victory of the extreme right in Italy is on the one hand a threat to fundamental rights and on the other hand a risk of paralysis in Europe,” said Hollande, “what happened in Italy can also happen in France.” Presidential adviser Jacques Attali said: “Also in In France, the extreme right stands at the gates of power.”

Meanwhile, Marine Le Pen congratulated election winner Giorgia Meloni. “The Italian people have decided to take their destiny back into their own hands by electing a patriotic and sovereign government,” said Le Pen. Meloni and her ally Matteo Salvini have defied threats “from an anti-democratic and arrogant EU”. and won this great victory.

In addition to Le Pen, other far-right European politicians welcomed the election. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki wrote on Twitter: “Congratulations @Giorgia Meloni”. The head of the right-wing populist Vox party in Spain, Santiago Abascal, spoke in a tweet of “millions of Europeans who are pinning their hopes on Italy”. “Giorgia Meloni showed the way for a proud, free Europe with sovereign nations,” said Abascal.

The Kremlin expressed reservations about the election victory. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the elections were a “purely internal matter” for Italy. However, Russia welcomes all political forces “that are able to leave the framework of the established mainstream, which is characterized by hatred of Russia, and show more objectivity and constructiveness in relations with our country,” Peskov said Agency Interfax. The Kremlin spokesman was thus targeting those parties on the side of the election winners that had expressed pro-Russian sentiments in the past. .

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