Roberto Vannacci, MEP elected on the Lega list, is still the vice-president of the newly formed sovereignist group Patriots for Europe in the EU Parliament. In the declaration of constitution of the political groups attached to the minutes of the Strasbourg plenary session of last Friday, July 19, consulted by Adnkronos, the general is in fact listed as one of the seven vice-presidents of the third group in the chamber, despite the doubts expressed publicly and repeatedly by Jean-Paul Garraud, head of the delegation in Europe of the French Rassemblement National, the first delegation of the group with thirty deputies.
Vannacci has also created havoc in Europe, generating friction between Matteo Salvini’s League and Jordan Bardella and Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National. The French are embarrassed by the choice of the general as vice-president of the new group of Patriots of Europe, the formation that brings together the radical right in the European Parliament promoted by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. The president of the Patriots in the European Parliament is the French Bardella, while the general, with over 530,000 personal preferences, was appointed vice-president about ten days ago, representing what is the third party of the group.
“His choice is a problem and we will look for a solution to resolve it,” Garraud said bluntly in recent days. Statements made in the past by the general, such as those about “homosexuals who are not normal” or those about volleyball player Paola Egonu, whose physical features “do not represent Italianness”, are a source of embarrassment even for the right in the increasingly multi-ethnic France. And they would go against the new – more moderate – course that Le Pen and President Bardella would like to give to their party, after the defeat in the French legislative elections.
The League is rallying around the general, while the person directly concerned has said he is “calm”. What “the solution to the Vannacci problem” will be – in the words of Jean-Paul Garraud – is still unclear. A step back in the first days of the legislature would create a scandal that the League would like to avoid. On the other hand, it is unlikely that the Carroccio will withdraw his nomination now. “We still have to discuss it”, Garraud assured in recent days. The fact is that, for now, Vannacci remains vice president.
