Manfred Weber, head of the European People’s Party, plans to hold a meeting of all its MEPs in Italy this summer, following controversial comments by former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi about Ukraine.
berlusconi provoked Outrage last weekend for blaming Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine on Vladimir Zelensky. Berlusconi leads Forza Italia, which is part of the centre-right EPP family, and is a junior partner in Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing coalition government.
EPP MEPs from nine countries reacted Furious at a closed-door meeting in Strasbourg on Tuesday, with threats to boycott the meeting in Naples if Berlusconi attended, prompting the EPP to go public distance From Berlusconi’s comment itself. The controversy has created a political headache for EPP chief Weber who is attempting to align Meloni himself with the Brothers of Italy party ahead of the EU elections next year.
Weber called a meeting of the groups’ top lawmakers on Friday and then Tweeted: “After Silvio Berlusconi’s comments on Ukraine we decided to cancel our study days in Naples. Support for Ukraine is not optional.”
Berlusconi was also scolded This followed comments by former President of the European Parliament and now Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who said that his Forza Italia party “has always been in favor of the independence of Ukraine.”
A spokesman for Weber said the Naples meeting was planned for all 176 EPP MPs and staff to discuss the conservative group’s strategy ahead of EU elections in 2024, and discuss what policies still need to be implemented before then. to be given priority. An alternate destination for the meeting, scheduled for June 7-9, has not yet been chosen.