Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced she would be her party’s lead candidate in June’s elections for the European Parliament (EP). In a speech held on Sunday, April 28th, the conservative politician said:
We want to do in Europe what we did in Italy … create a majority that brings together the centre-right forces and send the left into opposition.
“I want to ask Italians if they are satisfied with the work we are doing in Italy and in Europe,” Meloni added, explaining her decision to run as the lead candidate.
Her party, Fratelli d’Italia (FdI, Brothers of Italy) is leading opinion polls, and is expected to gain between 25 and 27 seats from the 76 allocated to Italy in the EP. About 28% of Italians are projected to vote for the party, meaning FdI’s popularity has not waned since coming to power at the general elections in September 2022 and subsequently forming a right-wing coalition.
It is not uncommon for party leaders in Italy to be lead candidates in EP elections, in order to boost their respective party’s popularity amongst voters who could be otherwise uninterested in European affairs. Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani is also the lead candidate for his party, Forza Italia, while Elly Schlein, leader of the opposition socialist Democratic Party, is also running as the main candidate. This does not mean, however, that they will actually become members of the European Parliament.
Nevertheless, left-wing politicians voiced their criticism oft Giorgia Meloni’s announcement. Former socialist Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi denounced Meloni, calling her an “influencer, not a stateswoman,” while liberal Dutch MEP Sophie in ’t Veld tweeted: “The fake candidacy of Giorgia Meloni makes a mockery of the elections and shows nothing but contempt for her voters and for Europe.”
András László—who is running as a candidate for the ruling Hungarian conservative party Fidesz—reacted to the leftist hypocrisy by saying: “Meloni is leader of her party, leader of a European party, and PM of her country. Yet, liberals think they get to tell conservatives NOT to put her on top of their list. Change is much needed in Brussels!”
Meloni is indeed the President of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR), which looks set to increase the number of seats it has in the 720-seat EP from 68 to 86, according to the latest polls. This number could further increase by 10 to 12 seats, if Fidesz—currently without a European political grouping—joins the ECR after June’s elections.
Both Fidesz and the Polish Law and Justice (PiS) party are advocating closer cooperation with their fellow right-wing group in the Parliament, Identity and Democracy (ID), whose members include Marine Le Pen’s National Rally, Matteo Salvini’s Lega and the German AfD. ID is projected to gain 77 seats after the elections, 18 more than their current total.
Though the ECR and ID will not have enough votes to dominate European politics, their increased seat share could be useful for blocking harmful leftist initiatives, by cooperating on certain issues with the centre-right European People’s Party, which is set to remain the biggest group in Parliament with a projected 181 seats.
