Le Pen calls on Meloni to create a ‘supergroup’ of the far right in the European Parliament

Marine Le Pen courts Giorgia Meloni. The French far-right leader is trying to project an image of greater moderation ahead of the European elections by trying to emulate the success of other far-right forces, such as Meloni’s Fratelli d’Italia, which have managed to come to power while the Rassemblement National always opposes her. Now that she has a lead in the polls, Le Pen has publicly called on the Italian prime minister to join a ‘supergroup’ in the European Parliament.

In the last legislature, the far right has split into two factions: on the one hand, the Identity and Democracy extremists, who have the most radical forces, from the Rassemblement National to Alternative for Germany and Matteo Salvini’s La Lega. On the other, the Group of Reformists and Conservatives (ECR), of which Meloni is a part, the Polish Law and Justice (which has been the main delegation until now) or Vox.

“It’s time to unite, it will be really useful. If we succeed we will become the second group in the European Parliament. I think we should not miss such an opportunity,” Le Pen said in an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera on Sunday. The French ultra leader intends to harness all the strength of the far right in the European Parliament, where it is expected to have a third representation in these structures, with a group that could be an obstructive minority.

The words addressed directly to Meloni were added to the gesture that Identity and Democracy (ID) made last week when expelling the Alternative for Germany from its ranks after some words by its candidate Maximiliano Krah about the SS. The removal of most of the militants from a space where they have coexisted practically without problems until the beginning of this year has been one of the steps to try to reconcile with the ECR structures, which unlike the ID have managed to assume government responsibilities in some countries, such as Italy or Poland. Now they are also waiting for Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz to join them after the expulsion of the European People’s Party in the last term.

And the idea is also to gain influence at a time when the EPP has lifted the veto from the extreme right. Ursula von der Leyen made it clear in the election debate that she would seek Meloni’s support to continue leading the European Commission. As prime minister, the Italian would be in the distribution of power in the European institutions and the EPP’s fear is that he would not get the numbers with the traditional coalition with the Social Democrats and the liberals. Therefore, he reaches out to some extreme right groups.

The Social Democrats and the liberals reject the same equation from the start, but von der Leyen was elected by a minimum (nine votes) five years ago and knows that the groups that supported her majority had some leaks that will probably be repeated in a new attempt.

According to Politico, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz rejected the idea, saying “When the next Commission is formed, it should not be based on a majority that also needs the support of the extreme right.” The head of one of the main delegations of the Social Democrats said “The only way to establish the presidency of the Commission would be to base it on traditional parties… Anything other than that would be a mistake for the future of Europe.” The other is the Spanish one, which, a priori, also rejects a majority that includes the extreme right, although the PSOE candidate, Teresa Ribera, who in an interview in El Correo (Vocento) spoke of including some forces of the ECR in the agreement “if what they propose is more in line with the values ​​of Europe.”