Antonio Tajani, deputy premier,
foreign minister and president of three-time ex-premier Silvio
Berlusconi's centre-right Forza Italia (FI) party, on Sunday
denied press reports that the centre-right European People's
Party (EPP), to which FI belongs, had asked Premier Giorgia
Meloni's rightwing Brothers of Italy (FdI) party to remove its
neofascist tricolor flame symbol from its logo in order to
facilitate a possible alliance between the EPP and Meloni's
European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group for next
year's elections to the European Parliament.
"After the European elections in 2024, I'm thinking of an
alliance between the Popular Party, Conservatives and Liberals.
"A path that can be repeated. A negotiation on the symbol is out
of the realm of reality. No one has asked anyone for anything, I
can absolutely deny it," said FI no 2 Tajani at business daily
Il Sole 24 Ore's Festival dell'Economia in Trento, commenting on
rumours about the alleged request to Fdi to remove the Flame,
which is seen as representing that on top of Mussolini's tomb,
from the symbol in order to join the European alliance.
The FdI's logo features the Tricolour Flame first used by the
postwar neo-Fascist Italian Social Movement (MSI) party, formed
by members of Mussolini's movement.
Meloni says the Italian right has "handed Fascism over to
history" and has condemned its suspension of democracy and the
"ignominious" racial laws.
She sees FdI as akin to Britain's Tories and the US Republican
Party.
Hungary's national-conservative Prime Minister Viktor Orban and
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen were among the first
to congratulate Meloni on her big victory in the Italian general
election on September 25.
Meloni has stood by her right-wing group's decision to
vote against a European Parliament motion declaring that Hungary
can no longer be considered a full democracy and has become an
"electoral autocracy", with the FdI leader saying her friend and
ally had been elected in free and fair elections.
National Rally leader Le Pen also hailed Meloni's "historic"
victory at the head of a centre-right coalition featuring
rightwing League leader Matteo Salvini, whose EP group also
voted against the motion on Orban, and FI chief Berlusconi.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki also congratulated
Meloni.
Morawiecki's Law and Justice party is in the ECR group in the EP
along with the Sweden Democrats, Spain's Vox., Aliance for
Germany and the Finns Party.
Le Pen's group is in the Identity and Democracy group (ID)
along with the League. Both groups described themselves as
centre-right.
Orban's Fideusz has been formally suspended from the EPP since
2019 though its members continue to enjoy the caucus's rights
and privileges.
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