At the meeting of the Patriots for Europe, the European group to which the League belongs, all delegations except the one from the Carroccio would have expressed themselves against the permanence of Roberto Vannacci as vice president. A few days ago, however, Vannacci was elected by acclamation. It remains to be seen, therefore, if and how a step back will come.
It seems that Roberto Vannacci’s experience as vice president of the Patriots for Europe, the group to which the League belongs in the European Parliament, could be short. During a meeting between the leaders of the group that took place yesterday, reported by Fanpage.it, the delegation heads expressed their opinion on the opportunity to keep the general as vice president in the group. They would all have ‘voted’ against, with the sole exception of the League. Now, therefore, the position of the Carroccio and its MEP would be decidedly complicated.
Less than two weeks ago, Vannacci had been elected by acclamation together with the president Jordan Bardella (of the Rassemblement national, the largest party in the group) and the other five deputies. It had been a quick election, which had approved the names presented by the various delegations of the national parties. Problems had started right away, however: the RN had raised objections about Vannacci, linked among other things to his homophobic positions. The head of the French delegation, Jean-Paul Garraud, had openly said that it was “a problem”. An initial internal meeting was supposed to take place last Monday, but it was cancelled because the member of the Northern League had arrived late.
After having denied that there was even a debate on the issue, the general was forced to admit today that there are problems. Even though he tried to turn the issue around with reporters in Strasbourg: “In the Patriots group there are no problems, there are solutions. The group has just formed, it must consolidate, it must crystallize. Everything will go well in the next few days”.
The Patriots Group “puts Vannacci on trial”: “Someone asked for a step back, decision in the next few hours”
As mentioned, all the parties that make up the group would have lined up against Vannacci’s election: this includes first of all the National Rally of Marine Le Pen, but also representatives of far-right parties in Hungary (with Fidesz, the party of Viktor Orbán), Spain (with Vox), Austria, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Portugal, Czech Republic, Latvia and Greece.
The only delegation that would have defended Vannacci’s position would, of course, be the Legawith the head of the delegation Paolo Borchia. Vannacci himself was also present at the meeting, but at the end he left the room without answering the journalists waiting outside.
For the moment, however, there is talk of a meeting that took place behind closed doors between the group’s top management: these are not official decisionsand therefore definitive. Vannacci is currently still among the vice-presidents of the group. However, it seems clear that his permanence in the role does not have the political support of the rest of the MEPs. It remains to be seen how the Patriots will address the issue, also on a technical level, given that the election has already taken place. But the substantial position seems clear: Vannacci could soon be forced to take a step back.
Source: www.fanpage.it
