Salvini and Le Pen against von der Leyen, corner Meloni

Lega leader, Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, and French far-right leader Marine Le Pen have confirmed at an event in Rome that they will not support European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for a second term.

At ID’s “Winds of Change” convention in Rome on Saturday, Le Pen spoke in a video message in which she attempted to corner Meloni.

“A message for Giorgia: will you support a second term of Von der Leyen or not? I believe so. You owe the Italians the truth; you must say what you will do”, Le Pen said in her video message.

In her message, Le Pen also said Salvini was the only right-wing candidate to oppose von der Leyen and thanked those supporting Lega to elect deputies who “will not lie, will not manoeuvre and will be clear, lucid and determined”.

Salvini and Le Pen have promised to get as many of their party members elected to the European Parliament in June as possible, to bolster their EU group Identity and Democracy (ID), and said they will do everything to prevent von der Leyen (EPP) from getting a second mandate.

Salvini replied from the stage in Rome, “The voters who choose Lega will never choose a second term with von der Leyen and the socialists.” He added, “They are trying to divide us, but they will not succeed.”

Commenting on Meloni, Salvini said, “In Giorgia Meloni, I have found a friend. Of course, even among friends, there can be different points of view”, adding that “the [Italian coalition] government will go on until 2027”.

The Italian prime minister is considered to be on very good terms with von der Leyen and has indicated support for the Commission chief to continue for a second term – something the two far-right leaders oppose.

Read more: Meloni, von der Leyen walk tightrope ahead of EU elections

André Ventura, the leader of the rising Portuguese party Chega and guest of honour at the congress, also backed Salvini.

“The journalists asked me if we would support Giorgia Meloni. But why should we do so? The only politician who defends all the nations of Europe is Salvini”, Ventura said.

Future for ID

If Le Pen’s Rassemblement National (RN) were to take over the leadership of a group as large as ID or even a larger nationalist group, one of the key conditions for unity would be a strict rejection of von der Leyen’s policies and her bid to be reappointed as Commission head.

“We’re not going to lie to ourselves: we’re watching ECR’s support for von der Leyen very carefully because it’s going to be a very, very divisive element that will bring order to the EU’s political landscape”, Mathilde Androuët, RN MEP and president of the ID Foundation, told EURACTIV.

In other words, RN will be paying close attention to the position of the ECR parties on von der Leyen, in particular, that of Meloni’s Fratelli d’Italia party, which leads the ECR.

Within the ECR itself, the question of support for von der Leyen could be decisive. In France, the ECR’s new member party, Reconquête!, said it will not support von der Leyen’s candidacy.

“With our ECR group, made up of 17 nationalities and four governments, we can beat Macron’s group and topple von der Leyen’s centre-left majority”, declared the head of the Reconquête! list for the European elections, Marion Maréchal.

Avec notre groupe @ecrgroup, composé de 17 nationalités et 4 gouvernements, nous pouvons battre le groupe de Macron et renverser la majorité de centre-gauche de von der Leyen.

Émission complète 👉 https://t.co/cawuJNC2pt#VotezMarion pic.twitter.com/cyRZlaaKMt

— Marion Maréchal (@MarionMarechal) March 23, 2024

This is also the case for the French right-wing Les Républicains party (EPP), for which François-Xavier Bellamy leads the EU list.

“The symbolic reality is that the EPP representatives of the EU’s second-largest country, France, are refusing to support von der Leyen, even though she also comes from the ranks of the EPP,” said Androuët.

(Federica Pascale | Euractiv.it, Paul Messad | Euractiv.fr)