On the 3rd of December 2023, the city of Florence hosted the launch of an alternative project to the current European Union. It is fitting for the birthplace of Dante Alighieri to serve as the launchpad for this ambitious plan, given that Dante’s poetry played a key role in Italy’s unification. But what is this project?
Matteo Salvini hosted a meeting of the continent’s sovereigntist parties, the Identity and Democracy (ID) group, under the slogan “Free Europe! Jobs. Security. Common Sense.” The meeting brought together 12 of their leaders, who head the political parties in their respective countries that oppose the project of the ‘superstate’ that obliterates the distinctiveness of European identities. Representatives of 27 nations with very different character but much in common have agreed in the Tuscan capital to search for joint policies that restore the independence and national sovereignty of their countries, the democratic freedoms of citizens, and local economies.
During the meeting, whose participants intend to change the European Union’s dirigiste, interventionist, and anti-national orientation, Matteo Salvini said, “Today I have listened to friends from different countries with different cultures. The Identity and Democracy Group is the union of the different. I believe that today is an historic day because today the renaissance of Europe can see the light of day, which will be based on work and rights. Europeans will have to choose [between], on the one hand, freedom and, on the other, fear; on the one hand, rights and work, on the other hand, extremism.”
Ultimately, the political parties represented at the meeting all believe that current EU directives are failing. Despite their lofty goals, they curb economic development and national industry, limit energy resources, weaken security, make a mockery of borders, and attack European cultures and traditions. The ID group therefore opposes much that has hitherto been synonymous with the EU, and because of this, it faces the challenge of breaking the cordon sanitaire imposed on it.
Matteo Salvini’s solution is to bring the successful Italian political model of unity to the European Union: “For the first time, the united and determined centre Right can win and liberate Brussels from those who occupy it for their own interests. The centre Right in Europe can only make the revolution if it is united. … Just as we are taking Italy by the hand to return it to growth, it would be a fatal mistake to split the centre Right in Europe.” The message was undoubtedly aimed at those like Antonio Tajani—deputy prime minister and leader of Forza Italia, with which the Lega forms part of the government together with Fratelli d’Italia—who has recently declared that “Salvini is an ally and can be an ally in Europe, but we will never make an alliance with Alternative for Germany and Mrs. Le Pen.”
Salvini is aware that Marine Le Pen, the indefatigable leader of Rassemblement National—a friend and historical ally of the Lega—today plays a key role in this alternative political project. Her political weight in France, and therefore in the EU, is indisputable. This is what the ID initiative is counting on. As Salvini said, “Between Macron and Le Pen, I choose her for life. We are the alternative to the socialists,” and added, “Make no mistake! Those who choose the Lega in the European elections choose the alternative to the Left, to the socialists, and to the communists.”
Tajani reiterated that: “We are for a centre-right alliance of conservatives, liberals, and people.” In his words, the current leader of Forza Italia, a member of the European People’s Party (EPP), prefers an alliance in the EU with Giorgia Meloni of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), Emmanuel Macron of Renew Europe (RE), and Ursula von der Leyen (EPP) rather than with Matteo Salvini, Marine Le Pen, and Tino Chrupalla. This is, to my mind, foolish, as the last three are on an unstoppable rise in their respective countries. Obviously, when the time comes, the consequences of taking one path or the other will be seen on June 9th. The presidency of the European Commission—currently headed by von der Leyen, a member of the CDU party, which is led by Manfred Weber—will also have to be chosen. Giorgia Meloni has a good relationship with von der Leyen and the CDU and has remained silent on this issue.
We can see here a delicate balancing act on the part of the Italian government’s political leaders in the run-up to the next European elections. However, Salvini has reassured his government partners and his voters: “With Giorgia Meloni and Antonio Tajani, I work very well; there is no doubt that the government will last five years, until 2027. The Italian government is not at all in question; it would be a missed opportunity not to change Europe and to continue doing what was done for decades under the socialist leadership because it is there for all to see.” Despite the complexity of the agreements and the differences between European political forces, the Lega leader’s initiative and willingness to build this alternative in Brussels next year are neither far-fetched nor impossible.
Salvini has always been an unusual politician with charisma. He has definitively broken away from the canon of political correctness and has been bold in his proposals. He recognises that he and his coalition face many uphill battles, but he remains adamant that positive change is possible in Europe. During the meeting, he put it this way:
I reread a passage from the Bible, the one about David and Goliath, which is appropriate for what we are doing today. Goliath was looking for an opponent among the Israelites, and they all fled. … Today, the friends of Europe, the defenders of Europe, are here. You know how the story ended. David defeated Goliath, who [had] seemed invincible. Today in Florence, there are women and men who will defeat a giant. That the first enemy of Europe is the Masonic bureaucracy. We are not afraid of the Goliath Soros, who destroys our civilisations. … Our idea of Europe is based on work and not on the electric car or the housing tax. A totally different idea from that of von der Leyen, Lagarde, and Soros, the Europe of the bankers.
He does not mince his words, which has also caused him more than a few headaches. However, Salvini also has a high institutional profile, management skills, and efficiency in his work, which, together with his natural closeness to the ordinary citizen, helped him find the formula to achieve electoral successes that have twice made him Italy’s deputy prime minister.
There is no doubt that advocates of sovereignty are advancing across Europe. Salvini reminded the press of the electoral success of his allies, dispelling accusations of extremism. Referring to the member parties of ID, he said that today they are: “the first party in France, Holland, Austria, Belgium; the second party in Germany; and an Italian governmental party. … The data tell us that today we are the fourth political force in the European Parliament. The goal is to be the third and to be decisive. … May the victory in the Netherlands be the beginning of victory throughout Europe, and there is no better time and place to affirm this than Florence, the cradle of the Renaissance, the city of the rebirth of Europe.” Spirits are high; they are optimistic, and they have every reason to be.
‘Il capitano’—as his activists and supporters call him—was accompanied in the capital of the Italian Renaissance by a veritable cavalcade of comrades-in-arms. Among them were Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella of Rassemblement National (RN), France; Kostadin Kostadinov of Vazrazhdane, Bulgaria; André Ventura of Chega, Portugal; George Simion of Alianța pentru Unirea Românilor (AUR), Romania; Roman Fritz of Konfederacja Korony Polskiej (KKP), Poland; Majbritt Birkholm of Dansk Folkeparti, Denmark; Martin Helme of Eesti Konservatiivne Rahvaerakond (EKRE), Estonia; Tomio Okamura of Svoboda a přímá demokracie (SPD), Czech Republic; Gerolf Annemans of Vlaams Belang, Flanders Region; Harald Vilimski of Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs (FPÖ), Austria; Tino Chrupalla of Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), Germany; and Geert Wilders of Partij voor de Vrijheid (PVV), Netherlands. The alliance seems to be consolidating and is expected to grow next June with the entry into the European Parliament of new political forces, such as the Portuguese and Romanian parties, among others. The questions to be answered will be about the relationships, agreements, and understanding, not only by the parties that form part of the EPP or ECR but also by ID in the framework of international and European politics.
June 10, 2024, the day after the next elections, will be a crucial date for Europe and its democracy. The future of the Union in the short, medium, and long term will be defined by the outcome of the elections, with the continuity of the popular and socialist majorities—in mutual harmony—or an alternative path will open up with the growth of sovereigntist, patriotic, and conservative options. European citizens will decide with their votes. The pro-sovereignty campaign for the European elections is already underway, and we shall see where it leads.