The Greens group in the European
Parliament on Monday came out against Italy's nominee to be its
member of the new EU executive, European Affairs Minister
Raffaele Fitto, getting the key post of Economy Vice President.
Fitto, a senior figure in Premier Giorgia Meloni's right-wing
Brothers of Italy (FdI) party, is reportedly going to be
nominated for this post, which would put him in charge of
overseeing the EU's post-pandemic Recovery Fund.
The appointment would vindicate Meloni's assertion that Italy
will have a important post in the new EU executive despite FdI
MEPs voting against European Commission President Ursula von der
Leyen getting a second term at the helm of the EU executive in
July after June's EU elections.
Meloni was irked that the Conservative ECR group FdI belongs to
and
which she chairs was left out of the negotiations for the EU top
jobs.
On the other hand, the Greens, which were also left out of those
negotiations, voted in favour of von der Leyen's re-election.
"Ursula von der Leyen was only elected in July because she also
got our votes and not those of the extreme right," said Greens
Co-Chair Thierry Reintke.
"This is why the Commission should not suddenly move to the
right.
"Italy has the right to propose its commissioner, but proposing
an ECR politician to be part of the Commission's leadership
would deliberately undermine July's democratic, pro-European
coalition".
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