Raffaele Fitto, Italy's Right-wing Hope For A Top EU Job

Rome, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 10th Sep, 2024) Italy wants a top EU job for Raffaele Fitto, an experienced minister whose elevation could smooth frayed ties between Brussels and Rome but whose far-right politics have sparked concern.

Currently minister for European affairs in Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government, Fitto is reportedly eyeing the economy vice-president job in the new European Commission to be unveiled by Ursula von der Leyen next week.

As a member of Meloni's post-fascist Brothers of Italy party -- which once called for Rome to leave the eurozone -- his potential appointment to such a powerful post has sparked alarm.

Centrist French MEP Valerie Hayer described the rumoured appointment as "untenable".

Hungarian nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, known for his repeated clashes with Brussels, told an economic forum in northern Italy this weekend Fitto was "an excellent man".

Yet Fitto, 55, is widely considered one of the more moderate members of Meloni's government and has considerable European experience.

Fitto began his career in local government in his native Puglia, southern Italy, becoming aged 31 the country's youngest ever regional president -- a post once held by his father.

He started out as a Christian Democrat before joining Silvio Berlusconi's right-wing Forza Italia party, as an MP and then minister between 2008 and 2011.

He was elected three times to the European Parliament, initially, in 1999, for Forza Italia -- which made him part of von der Leyen's conservative European People's Party (EPP) group.

Fitto later switched to Meloni's party, rising to become co-president of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), the far-right parliamentary grouping now led by Brothers of Italy.

He stepped down as an MEP to join Meloni's new government in October 2022, charged with managing Italy's share of the EU's multi-billion-euro post-Covid recovery plan.

"He's well-known in Brussels, moderate, constructive and in many ways the obvious choice (for Italy)," Luigi Scazzieri, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, told AFP.

"He is not likely to cause issues. The trouble is with him getting a high-profile portfolio or a vice-president position.

"There are suggestions that he may get both, but that will really annoy the Greens and the Socialists, given that Meloni did not even vote for von der Leyen as commission president."

Meloni refused to back von der Leyen for a second term in July because she viewed the reappointment as a stitch-up by the European Parliament's EPP-led centrist alliance, calling unnamed leaders "oligarchs".

European elections in June had seen a surge in support for far-right groups across the bloc -- including Brothers of Italy -- but Meloni's attempts to unite them into a coalition that could challenge the centrists failed.

Arturo Varvelli, senior fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said Meloni was "significantly weakened" in Brussels but von der Leyen "would be better off extending an olive branch" .

Despite her nationalist, populist rhetoric, Meloni has pursued a pragmatic foreign policy, notably backing Ukraine against Russia's invading forces and pulling Italy out of a controversial investment deal with China.

Rome also needs the EU's help with tackling issues such as irregular migration -- a priority for Meloni's government, noted Varvelli.

"It would be counterproductive for von der Leyen to adopt a punitive attitude and corner Meloni," he wrote in a commentary.

"This would only push Italy even further to the right and away from cooperation with Brussels."

Meloni meanwhile has been highlighting Fitto's record in managing Italy's share of the EU recovery funds, which at almost 200 billion Euros is the largest in the bloc.

She noted that 58 percent of the money Rome hopes to receive in return for reforms has already been disbursed.

At an event on Saturday the premier brushed off concerns Italy could be punished with a low level commission job for her "honesty", saying she remained "optimistic".