“This day is a bitter day for all those who want a strong and democratic Europe. With the electoral victory, the neo-fascist Meloni and the legal alliance she leads are on the verge of power in Italy. In second place the Democratic Party of Italy, with its leader Enrico Letta. He and his party friends deserve thanks and recognition for a strong election campaign, with which they opposed the legal alliance and fought for democracy, cohesion and Europe.
The fact that Italy, as the founding country of Europe and the world’s eighth largest industrial nation, is now probably ruled by an alliance of neo-fascists, right-wing nationalists and right-wing populists is a heavy burden on the cohesion of the Europe and the ability to act, especially now in this difficult time of crisis. At the same time, it is a historical political and moral failure of Manfred Weber’s European People’s Party to have promoted this right-wing advance in Italy. And the resounding silence of Friedrich Merz and Markus Söder on the political intimacy of their own European party towards a legal alliance led by neo-fascists speaks volumes.
However, the paralysis and fatalism on the part of the advocates of a strong and united Europe would now be the wrong advice. Even a new right-wing government in Italy will ultimately not be measured by the past, but by its concrete actions in the coming weeks and months. Now it is all the more important to continue working for European progress with a clear position and at the same time smart political offers.
In this context, Germany is also called in a special way to develop practical and solid solutions to the current tasks of the European crisis, to build political bridges and to develop realistic future prospects for Europe. Chancellor Scholz’s speech in Prague contains a good framework for this, which has lost none of its timeliness and relevance. At this moment, more than ever, Europe needs the commitment of the Europeans “.
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