Italy will keep supporting Ukraine if right wins vote, says Meloni

[July 22, 2022]  By Crispian Balmer

ROME (Reuters) - Italy will keep sending arms to Ukraine and back Kyiv in its war against Russia if the conservative bloc wins a forthcoming national election, the head of the most popular party in the alliance has said.

The far-right Brothers of Italy, led by Giorgia Meloni, has been one of the few Italian parties that has wholeheartedly endorsed Prime Minister Mario Draghi's decision to ship weapons to Ukraine, even though it was in opposition to his government.

By contrast, Meloni's two main allies, the League and Forza Italia, which were both in Draghi's coalition, have been much more ambivalent, reflecting their historically close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The government collapsed earlier this week, opening the way for snap elections on Sept. 25 which polls suggest the rightist bloc will win, with Brothers of Italy the dominant force, meaning its leader Giorgia Meloni could be the next premier.

"We have always defended and supported the Ukrainian cause, not just because we believe in the cause, but also because Italy cannot risk being the weak link in the Western alliance," Meloni told state broadcaster RAI late Thursday.
 

"(The West) needs to know they can count on us," she said. "I would not tolerate any ambiguity on this point."

Forza Italia chief Silvio Berlusconi is a close friend of Putin, while League leader Matteo Salvini praised the Russian president in 2019 as "the best statesmen currently on earth".

Both their parties have questioned the wisdom of sending arms to Ukraine, as did their coalition partner, the 5-Star Movement, suggesting that by doing so, the West was delaying inevitable peace talks.

All three parties pulled their support for Draghi this week, effectively bringing down the coalition, leading to accusations that his backing for Ukraine had motivated the pullout.

 Fratelli d'Italia (Brothers of Italy) party leader Giorgia Meloni sanitizes her hands during the third day of voting to elect the country's new president, in Rome, Italy, January 26, 2022. Alberto Pizzoli/Pool via REUTERS

"It is no coincidence that the government was brought down by political forces that wink at Vladimir Putin," Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said on Thursday.

Draghi himself told parliament this week that some of his partners had tried to "weaken our opposition to President Putin's plan", although he did not name any names.

The League, Forza Italia and 5-Star all deny that Ukraine played any part in their decision to pull support for Draghi.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has perhaps divided Italy more than any other major Western nation, with a survey last month showing that the country was split between those who saw Moscow or the West as the bigger obstacle to peace in Ukraine.

Opinion polls have also shown that in Italy - unlike in Europe's other G7 states Britain, France, and Germany - there is little public support for sending weapons to Kyiv.

But Meloni said more was at stake than just the current war. "Ukraine is the tip of the iceberg in a much wider conflict which aims at re-drawing the world order," she told RAI.

The conservative bloc has not yet put together a manifesto and it was not clear if Forza Italia or the League would endorse Meloni's uncompromising pro-Ukraine stance.

Latest opinion polls suggest Brothers of Italy will win almost 23% of the vote at the Sept. 25 election, with the League on 14.4% and Forza Italia on 8.4%.

(Reporting by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Toby Chopra)

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