Milan
Although it seemed veiled until now, the campaign for the European Parliament, which will hold elections next June, is now underway. Two scenes that took place a few hours and kilometers apart last Sunday (17) symbolize the political unrest in Italy and neighboring countries.
In the south, in Lampedusa, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni received European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who is currently deciding whether to seek a second term in office. In the north, in the province of Bergamo, Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini had Marine Le Pen, France’s main opposition voice, as a guest at his party’s party. The focus of the two meetings was an issue that is close to the hearts of the continent’s ultraright migration.
The flow of migrants to the European Union increased in the European summer months and once again took up space in the political debate in Italy, the country most affected by illegal ships from North Africa. Since January, 130,000 people have arrived in the country, an increase of 91% compared to the same period last year.
Even in France and Germany, the countries that receive the most asylum applications from refugees, the situation worsened. In both cases, governments are trying to find a balance between “European solidarity” and internal pressure from opponents against accepting migrants arriving in Italy. In France, President Emmanuel Macron is a target of Le Pen. In Germany, the rise in poll numbers for the Alternative for Germany (AfD) is throwing the governing coalition into turmoil, in which even the moderate Greens are calling for further tightening.
On Sunday morning, Meloni and Von der Leyen visited the reception center and pier of Lampedusa, an island in Sicily next to Tunisia that is the main entry point for those crossing the Mediterranean. Both tried to announce responses to curb the phenomenon, such as tightening surveillance and detention periods for the return of those ineligible for international protection, such as migrants for economic and climate reasons.
Hours later, Salvini and Le Pen took turns on the stage set up in Pontida, the traditional stronghold of the League, the deputy prime minister’s party. “We will defend the ports, as Salvini courageously did. When he was in the Interior Ministry, all of Europe admired Italy. We will defend our people against organized immigration,” said the Frenchwoman.
During his time as Interior Minister from 2018 to 2019, the Italian even refused to disembark aid organization ships in the Mediterranean, which cost him a court case. “I do and will do everything I can and whatever is agreed to block the invasion, using all the means that democracy allows,” Salvini said on Sunday. Days earlier, he and league representatives had already raised their voices against Meloni’s policies in the region.
Even if the affinity between Salvini and Le Pen is somewhat contrived, the rapprochement between Meloni and Von der Leyen is recent and appears to have strengthened, causing the Italian to struggle internally.
Meloni was elected a year ago with a hint of Euroscepticism and with the “sea blockade” as one of her flags, and has failed to produce results for her electorate in this area. Either because it is difficult to prevent maritime movements or because the Prime Minister has tried to adopt a moderate line in the international arena since he took office.
“The campaign for the European elections has begun,” he says Sheet Daniele Albertazzi, professor of politics at the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom, specializing in the European populist right. “On the one hand, Meloni has to satisfy her electorate and has an ally in government who has already overtaken her on the right on immigration issues. On the other hand, it must maintain the image of a responsible and rational party towards heads of state and other foreign media,” he explains.
The allies of the coalition that governs Italy, Meloni and Salvini, belong to different factions in the European Parliament, whose 720 seats are up for grabs in June. The Prime Minister’s party, Brothers of Italy, is part of the Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), along with Spain’s Vox and Poland’s Law and Justice party. The league is already part of identity and democracy, with the acronym Le Pen (National Assembly) and the Alternative for Germany (AfD).
What they all have in common is that they rely on antiimmigrant sentiment and nationalism and that they are minor forces in Brussels, but which could gain weight after the June vote, at a time when the ultraright is making its presence felt in local and national elections.
The largest political force in Parliament, the European People’s Party (EPP), of the Christian Democratic line, is keeping an eye on this. The group includes the French Republicans, the Spanish People’s Party and the German CDU, the acronym von der Leyen.
In view of the conservative wing’s loss of votes across the continent, the EPP, in the form of MEP Manfred Weber, has tried to reach out to other political families in recent months. One of the names being courted is the acronym Meloni. Furthermore, since May, von der Leyen has been at the Italian’s side on at least three occasions in public demonstrations of her support during floods in Emilia Romagna, at the signing of the agreement with Tunisia, to stop illegal immigrant boats and now in Lampedusa.
“In recent decades the European Commission has become increasingly politicized. It has more and more functions that are more and more delicate. This position must behave like a political leader today,” says Albertazzi.
In theory, von der Leyen’s job is to develop regulations for the bloc and implement decisions by the Parliament and the Council of the 27 member states. Since 2019, however, the German has become the most visible European face in dialogue with international leaders and in the EU’s response to the pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The president of the European Commission, whose position is not elected but is determined by member states based on the results of parliamentary votes, has not yet expressed her willingness to run for a new term, but analysts believe she is moving in that direction.
“Von der Leyen needs Melonis’ support if she wants to be reelected. She could do it without it, but it will be easier if she has widespread support. “She is definitely thinking about this possibility,” assesses Professor Albertazzi.