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15 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 3 DECEMBER 2023 EWROPEJ This article is part of a content series called Ewropej. This is a multi-newsroom initiative part-funded by the European Parliament to bring the work of the EP closer to the citizens of Malta and keep them informed about matters that affect their daily lives. This article reflects only the author's view. The European Parliament is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains. ROBERTA Metsola was in the crosshairs of Italy's Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Sal- vini as Europe's far-right fired its first salvos of the European election campaign. Salvini, who heads the Le- ga Nord that forms part of Italy's centre-right coalition government, accused Metsola of seeking a "messy" political arrangement to side-line a re- surgent far-right. He was speaking in Brussels on Monday evening, 24 hours after welcoming a gathering of Europe's far-right politi- cal parties in Florence where speakers lambasted the EU and accused Brussels of over- arching powers. Salvini's retort was a reaction to Metsola's reminder, follow- ing the Florence meeting, that in Brussels there was a big enough majority to propose "a European choice" for citizens. The European Parliament president was referring to the European People's Party (EPP), from which she hails, the Socialists and Democrats, the liberal Renew and the Greens. It was this broad ar- rangement that determined who occupied key EU posts after the 2019 European Par- liament election. "There are those who are proposing once again a messy arrangement with parties on the Left, that has created the problems Europe is facing to- day," Salvini commented on X, formerly Twitter. Salvini also railed against the imposition of green taxes and called for more security at Europe's bor- ders. Ironically, Metsola will be meeting Italian Prime Minis- ter Giorgia Meloni in Rome on Tuesday. Meloni heads the Brothers of Italy party that forms part of the European Conserva- tives and Reformists (ECR) in the European Parliament. The centre-right ECR describes it- self as a Euro-realist party and attempts to distinguish itself from the more hard-line Iden- tity and Democracy, which groups together Salvini's Lega Nord, the French Rassemble- ment National led by Marin Le Pen, Germany's AfD, and Aus- tria's FPO, among others. The EPP had been courting Meloni after Brothers of Italy emerged as the largest party in last year's Italian election. The far-right has seen elec- toral success in several EU countries with the latest be- ing that of Geert Wilders in the Netherlands, whose party emerged as the largest. ID is the sixth largest bloc in the European Parliamen, trail- ing just behind the ECR. But polls have suggested ID could become the fourth larg- est grouping after next year's European elections, followed by the ECR. Far-right leaders are push- ing for a broad alliance of the Right that would include ID, the ECR and the EPP after next year's European Parlia- ment election. However, Antonio Tajani, who leads Forza Italia, a mem- ber of the EPP, has ruled out an EU-wide coalition with Germany's AfD and Marin Le Pen. Forza Italia is the third party in Italy's coalition gov- ernment. The EPP is widely expect- ed to emerge as the largest grouping in the European elections and spearhead the horse-trading that will take place afterwards to choose the bloc's key positions. The far-right wants to in- fluence those talks but can be blocked out by a shaky grand coalition of pro-Europe par- ties just like had happened in 2019. Matteo Salvini targets Metsola as far-right fires early salvo in European election campaign KURT SANSONE ksansone@mediatoday.com.mt Matteo Salvini (right) has fired a broadside at Roberta Metsola who has suggested a broad pro-EU alliance to counter the resurgence of the far-right as European elections loom next year