French elections: Meloni yet to break silence on Le Pen's success

Le Pen’s advantage is seen as a positive development for Italian PM Giorgia Meloni and ECR’s role in the EU, according to Italian media.

Transcript

00:00Marine Le Pen's party made big gains in the French elections on Sunday, although the far-right's

00:05lead is strong but not decisive, meaning that it's still unclear how the party's surge will

00:10translate into actual seats as no single bloc appears to be able to secure a clear majority.

00:15French President Emmanuel Macron called on French voters to block the far-right in the

00:19second round.

00:20Now, here in Italy, the first one to react to the news was Matteo Salvini, the leader

00:24of the League Party, who's also a historical ally of Marine Le Pen in Europe.

00:28He congratulated himself with Le Pen but also criticised Emmanuel Macron's comments, comparing

00:33him to Ursula von der Leyen, something that seems wasn't really appreciated by members

00:38of Giuseppe Meloni's party.

00:39Enrico Letta, who's a representative of the Democratic Party, Italy's main opposition

00:44party, instead said that the Italian government's approach and attitude in Europe will very

00:53much depend on the outcome of the French elections.

00:56Adding that Le Pen's expected victory in the first round is what perhaps pushed Meloni

01:01to abstain in the EU summit vote to approve von der Leyen as candidate running for the

01:07re-election as President of the European Commission.

01:10And if on the one hand, Meloni has not yet made any official comments, at least on social

01:14media platforms, well, according to reports in Italian newspaper La Repubblica, it seems

01:21that Meloni was expecting a clearer victory for Le Pen.

01:26One that could destabilise power imbalances in the EU.

01:30Meloni, in fact, reportedly complained about being excluded from talks regarding top EU

01:37job appointments.

01:38But according to Il Giornale newspaper, well, Le Pen's advantage is seen as a positive development

01:46for Giorgio Meloni and her role as President of the ECR political group in Europe.

01:53Adding that according to Il Giornale, a complaint in favour of Giorgio Meloni as she is trying

01:57to secure a top commission post for Italy.

02:01Giorgio Arlandi for Euronews in Rome.