“We had to choose on whose side we are - Ukraine that we attacked, or Russia, that is, an aggressor”

In the largest parliamentary party in Italy, there was a split due to the supply of weapons to Kyiv

In the largest party in Italy, the “Movement of the Five Stars”, which is part of the ruling coalition, on June 21 there was a split directly related to the question of the supply of weapons to Ukraine (at least in words).

In early June, the party leader and former Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Comte said that Italy should concentrate forces to achieve the political resolution of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. “We participated three times in sending weapons, and now it seems to us that the contribution in the field of diplomacy will be more valuable,” he said. The former party leader and the current Foreign Minister of Italy Luigi di Mayo, whom the IL Post, calls one of the most convinced supporters of the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky among European politicians, opposed the cessation of weapons.

The contradictions were exposed during the preparation of the parliamentary resolution, the advanced government of Italy before the meeting of the European Council on June 23-24, where, as expected, Ukraine will be granted the status of a candidate for EU members. The “Movement of the Five Stars” proposed to include a ban on further supply of weapons there, but Di May and his associates opposed. The head of the Foreign Ministry, in particular, stated that his party proposes to introduce the wording to Italy from NATO and the European Union and, thus, put the state security into the resolution.

On June 21, after long negotiations, the Senate of Italy adopted a resolution without a point about restrictions on the supply of weapons. Nevertheless, Luigi di Mao announced the exit from the party, along with several dozens of other parliamentarians and the formation of a new parliamentary group called "Together for the Future." At a press conference, the politician accused his former associates of vain attempts to question the work of the government for the “several interest points” of the rating. According to him, the party members needed to make a choice of whom to support: Russia or aggressor attacked - Russia.

“War is not a media show. This war is terribly cruel, terribly real. And the dead people are real. In these months, the first political force of parliament was to support the diplomatic work of the whole government and avoid ambiguity. But this did not happen, ”he said. Di Mayo emphasized the severity of the decision to withdraw from the party, saying that he had never expected that he would have to accept him.

The Movement of the Five Stars, founded by the comedian Beppe Grillo, received wide support for voters in the 2010s. It was a populist project that opposed corruption and political establishment. In 2018, becoming the largest party in parliament, she formed the coalition government along with the nationalist League, which took second place in the elections. The Prime Minister became Conte, who did not belong to any of the parties then; Di Mayo and League League leader Matteo Salvini became Deputy Prime Ministers.

In 2021, he resigned after the parliamentary crisis; The head of the government was the former head of the European Central Bank Mario Draga. The former prime minister received the post of head of the “Movement of the Five Stars”. As a result, Contain, according to Il Post, began to lead the party towards former radicalism, while Di Mayo, who practically built his political career in the “Movement of five Stars”, began to represent a more moderate, pro -government wing.

According to Il Post, the split in the “Movement of the Five Stars” can influence the work of the government in different ways. Firstly, the new largest party of parliament-the League-may ask for an increase in its representation in the coalition government. Secondly, the “movement of the five stars”, a number of representatives of which in the government left the party, can leave the coalition and go to the opposition. According to unofficial data, Giuseppe Conte excludes this option, however, assumptions are expressed that this can happen in the fall when discussing the budget. IL Post notes that even in this case, Mario Draga will be able to rely on the parliamentary majority, but he will have to change the composition of the government.

Four years after the election, the composition of the Five Star Faction in the lower house of parliament was reduced from 220 to 105 deputies (taking into account the last split). The party’s rating, according to Politico, sank from 34% in 2018 to 12%. The next elections to the Italy parliament should be held in 2023 - and, according to the publication of Politico, the position of politicians in relation to the war in Ukraine and Vladimir Putin will play a role in the struggle for votes.

Now the highest rating in the country (22%) is in the right conservative party “Italian Brothers”, which in 2018 gained only about 4% and is in opposition to the government. Politico draws attention to the fact that the leader of the party of George Melony, who is not embarrassed to show a radical position on issues such as the immigration and rights of LGBT, is expressed moderately on economic issues and actively supports the sending of weapons to Ukraine, although, according to surveys , about half of the Italians opposes it.

According to journalists, supporting this is not the most popular action of the government, Meloni is trying to create a more respectable image, which can help her in the future. For comparison, the League rating, whose leader Matteo Salvini changed positions on important issues and now does not support the sending of weapons to Ukraine, fell from 37% in 2019 to 15%.