Meloni free to run for EP but decisions must be joint-Tajani

(ANSA) - ROME, JAN 15 - Premier Giorgia Meloni is free to run for election to the European parliament in June but it is important to reach a joint agreement with government allies, Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Monday.
    "The president of the Council (of ministers) is free to do what she wants; running for election is not a scandal, it has happened before," Tajani, who is also the leader of centre-right government coalition partner Forza Italia, told Radio Rtl 102.5.
    "However, it is important to coordinate and discuss beforehand in order to find shared solutions," he added.
    In a year-end press conference on January 4 Meloni, who leads the right-wing Brothers of Italy (FdI), told reporters she had "not yet decided" whether to run in the European parliament elections.
    "I need to understand whether my possible candidacy would take time away from my job as premier," she said.
    On the possibility of running himself, Tajani said he had "some doubts".
    "I will talk about it with Giorgia Meloni and (Deputy Premier and League secretary) Matteo Salvini because I believe we will need to find a synthesis together," the deputy premier told Radio Rtl 102.5.
    "Campaigning for the European elections on the proportional list risks diverting my attention, my work, from the activity of government," he added.
    On the war in Ukraine, Tajani said: "I believe that if we want to achieve peace, we must prevent Ukraine from succumbing, because if we want to aim for an agreement that leads to the end of the war, we cannot have Russia invading Ukraine because it would no longer be a peace, but an invasion of Ukraine by Russia".
    "That is why it is right that the West should continue to support Ukraine," the minister added, stressing that "the situation is really complex".
    "We must never abandon diplomacy and we must make sure that a situation of military balance eventually leads to a lasting peace and to the conclusion of a war that has claimed too many lives... but Italy is always a bearer of peace, that is our priority commitment," said Tajani. (ANSA).