Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, has hinted she may seek backing from Giorgia Meloni’s right-leaning Brothers of Italy to secure a second term, according to a recent political debate. This decision comes as polls suggest a thinner majority from the current ruling coalition of Socialists and Democrats (S&D), Renew, and the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) after the upcoming elections in June.
Von der Leyen expressed a satisfactory working relationship with Meloni since the latter assumed the role of Italy’s prime minister, praising her for being decidedly pro-European, opposed to Putin, and supportive of the rule of law. Therefore, she concluded, she would be comfortable uniting with Meloni to establish a parliamentary majority.
Meanwhile, Meloni’s party, the Brothers of Italy, despite its Eurosceptic origins and contentious stance on matters such as LGBT+ rights and abortion, is predicted to seize the majority of Italian seats in the next elections, thus becoming a significant force in the European Parliament.
However, von der Leyen clarified her willingness to collaborate with Meloni’s party does not extend to the entire hard-right European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group, which also houses Poland’s Law and Justice party, a group von der Leyen has clashed with over their undermining of Polish rule of law.
The debate, staged in the European Parliament in Brussels, maintained a subdued tone among the five running candidates. Nicolas Schmit of the centre-left S&D faction proposed for the EU to take an assertive stand over member states breaching the rule of law. He also raised concerns about EU’s arrangements with “unscrupulous regimes” like Tunisia that offer significant monetary support in return for their assistance in reducing migrant flow across the Mediterranean into Europe.
Sandro Gozi, a leading candidate from the centrist Renew faction, expressed that the European Union could not entertain the idea of further expansion unless significant reformations were made. He stressed that there was zero wiggle room for any opposition or resistance to the aggressive climate initiatives that the EU has committed to in the recent past.
Terry Reintke, co-president of the Greens faction, claimed that the requirement for all EU states to reach a unanimous agreement on matters relating to foreign affairs and defence should be discarded. She strongly voiced her opinion that individuals such as Viktor Orban should not be provided with the power to veto such decisions.
Walter Baier from the European Left faction urged the EU to take a firmer stance against Israel’s actions in the Gaza war by imposing penalties to halt what he referred to as the killing of Palestinian civilians.
Despite the intense focus on policy matters, the key inference from the debate was the conspicuous indication from Ms Von Der Leyen about her readiness to collaborate with Ms Meloni’s party. This could potentially frighten her supporters in the Renew and S&D groups. However, it still remains uncertain to what extent the president of the commission can broaden her prospective coalition for her re-election across the political hemisphere without risking a rupture due to conflicting political views.