Rome: Italy’s hard-right League announced on Thursday its intention to amend the law to eliminate the European Union flag from public offices, aiming to reinforce its eurosceptic stance ahead of the upcoming EU parliamentary elections.
League leader Matteo Salvini, in a bid to regain lost electoral ground, has revived a radical platform to attract eurosceptic voters and bolster support for his party within Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s coalition.
Senator Claudio Borghi, a vocal eurosceptic and candidate for the European elections, advocated for displaying only the Italian national flag in front of public offices, along with banners representing the various regions. Borghi plans to introduce legislation to repeal a 1998 law mandating the display of the EU flag at Italy’s public institutions, labeling it as nonsensical.
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The League is aligned with the Identity and Democracy (ID) group, a coalition of radical right parties in the EU parliament, which includes France’s Rassemblement National (RN), Austria’s Freedom Party (FPO), and Germany’s Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
While ID currently ranks as the sixth-largest group in the EU assembly, recent polls indicate it may ascend to fourth place, trailing slightly behind the liberal faction, with Rassemblement National poised for significant gains in France.
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Despite securing 34% of the vote in the 2019 EU election, the League’s current polling hovers around 9%, with Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party emerging as Italy’s leading right-wing force, commanding 27% of support.
In a bid to revitalize the party’s standing, Salvini has nominated Roberto Vannacci, an army general whose controversial book last year disparaged the LGBTQ community, migrants, minorities, and feminists, as a candidate.
