by Federica Pascale and Max Griera
Right-wing leaders across the EU welcomed the consolidation of the far-right party Vox (ECR) in Spain’s recent elections, while the conservative governing coalition in Italy stressed the need to close ranks among the European right-wing spectrum.
One of the biggest winners in the Spanish regional and municipal elections after Partido Popular (EPP) has been far-right Vox (ECR), scoring third on a municipality level and highly increasing representation in all regions where elections took place.
With such results, Vox places itself as an inevitable force, and Partido Popular depends on them to form government in five of the 12 regions that were up for grabs – and more than 30 provincial capitals, El Pais reports.
Recent polls suggest that Vox could also score third in the national elections, with 15% of votes and with the leverage to form a government with Partido Popular.
From Meloni to Orban, via France with Zemmour and Le Pen, the European “patriotic” camp quickly congratulated Vox and its President Santiago Abascal for the results.
“For Spain, as for Europe, this result reflects the establishment and consolidation of the patriotic current and helps to strengthen the voice of the people”, Marine Le Pen said (Rassemblement National/ID).
Also celebrating the rise of Vox, German AfD (ID) MP Petr Bystron told EURACTIV that “the success of Vox is part of the ongoing winning streak for populist parties all over Europe”.
Former far-right presidential candidate Eric Zemmour (Reconquete) emphasised the new critical role that Vox will play with Partido Popular in the next elections, matching his vision of a united right-wing camp.
A critical reaction, though, is that of the Italian ruling trio, as Forza Italia (EPP), Fratelli d’Italia (ECR), and Lega (ID) are vouching for EPP, ECR, and ID to close ranks, as well as for the extrapolation of the “Meloni model” to Spain – and the rest of Europe.
Europeanising the ‘Meloni model’
Lega’s Matteo Salvini affirmed on Thursday in an interview with El Pais that he hopes for an alliance uniting all the right-wing spectrum in Brussels, for which Spain’s upcoming election results will be pivotal.
“The scenario of a centre-right majority in the European Parliament, which seemed far-fetched a year ago, is closer. What happens in Spain will be important for our vision of Europe”, he said.
He added, “the hope is that next year the voters will give the Popular, Conservative and Identitarian axis significant numbers.”
Given some national delegations ‘ reluctance, he also acknowledges that such an alliance will be challenging.
Manfred Weber, the chief of EPP, is not against such a scenario. However, the German centre-right parties have expressed significant concern.
“There is no reason for further cooperation with the other parties of the Italian government in the European Parliament, as long as they cooperate with openly anti-European forces such as the German AfD,” foreign policy spokesperson of the CDU/CSU party group in the Bundestag, Jurgen Hardt, told EURACTIV Germany in January.
As for Spain, Salvini hopes that Partido Popular (EPP) will soon “decide their side”, asserting that the upcoming national election results will determine whether the centre-right party closes ranks with far-right Vox (ECR).
Salvini hopes that the success and synergies of the alliance between the three forces in the Italian right-wing political spectrum replicate in Spain and the EU – what Fratelli d’Italia’s MEP and ECR Co-president Nicola Procaccini referred to as the “Meloni model”.
Procaccini highlighted that Spanish and European citizens are rejecting the left and entrusting right-wing leadership, “following a model that saw Italy ahead of the times with the general elections in September [Italian elections]”.
Celebrating the rise of a strong centre-right in Spain and Europe, Procaccini congratulated his “friends at Vox who continue to grow and strengthen the European Conservative project” and affirmed that “together, after winning in Rome, we will also win in Madrid and Brussels”.
“In June, we can give Europe a new Popular-Conservative majority. There is not only Italy and Spain, already Sweden and Finland have conservative-led governments. And then Poland and Hungary. I don’t think there are difficulties in Greece. If this is the trend, it’s time for a new majority in the European Parliament and a new EU Commission,” he added.
In May 2023, Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani (Forza Italia/EPP) also stressed the need for EPP and ECR to close ranks to form a majority after the June 2024 EU elections.
Tajani also advocated for an understanding with the Liberals (Renew), who supported his election as president of the European Parliament in 2017.
But the EU liberals immediately rejected such a scenario excluding any alliance with those who have to do with the “extremes” – referring to Identity and Democracy (ID) and ECR.
Lega is an ‘integral part’
For Carlo Fidanza, head of Fratelli d’Italia’s delegation, there must be a “solid and conspicuous bloc” of the two groups (ECR and EPP) that can be the new axis on which to base a new majority.
As for Lega, which has recently expressed uncertainty about its affiliation with ID, Fidanzatold EURACTIV Italy that it is “an integral part” of the plan to bring the “Meloni model” at the EU level.
“If the votes we get are not enough, we will consider opening negotiations with other groups or other national delegations within the groups. It is still early now”, said Fidanza, who pointed out that the ECR is already collecting important results in several EU countries.
“There are and will be growing numbers. There is an important growth of all our parties and of some national parties that are part of the EPP, which have benefited from a clearer distinction from the left”, the MEP added.
Whatever the alliances will be, the groups will remain distinct with their identities and specificities “of which we are all jealous and guardians”, Fidanza assured, and the “legitimate competition” at the national level will continue.
“It is one thing to work on common issues in Brussels, and quite another to enshrine a merger that would be unnatural for parties that are perhaps not even allies in their home countries […] There is no need to force things, each group has its own history. Instead, we need to build common paths, as we already do on many dossiers on which we vote together”, explained the conservative MEP.
*first published in: Euractiv.com
By: N. Peter Kramer
