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Italy opens talks on new government amid coalition rift over Ukraine

AFP/The Local
AFP/The Local - [email protected]
Italy opens talks on new government amid coalition rift over Ukraine
Italian President Sergio Mattarella began formal consultations to form a new government on Thursday. Photo by Tiziana FABI / AFP

Italian President Sergio Mattarella began consultations to form a new government earlier on Thursday, despite friction over Ukraine appearing to threaten the right-wing bloc's unity.

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The talks, which should lead to the appointment of post-fascist Brothers of Italy party leader Giorgia Meloni as prime minister, should wind up on Friday according to the president.

But the process has been largely overshadowed by the leak of an embarrassing audio tape of former premier Silvio Berlusconi, whose Forza Italia party is part of the right-wing coalition along with Brothers of Italy and the anti-immigrant League party led by Matteo Salvini.

READ ALSO: Berlusconi in fresh row over Putin ties following leaked audio

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In the audio leaked on Wednesday, Berlusconi is heard saying he has rekindled ties and exchanged gifts with his longtime friend Russian President Vladimir Putin, while appearing to blame the war in Ukraine on its president, Volodymyr Zelensky.

Meloni, who has sought to allay fears that her traditionally Eurosceptic party would break with the West in its support of Ukraine, immediately clamped down to restore calm.

"I intend to lead a government with a clear and unequivocal foreign policy line," she said in a statement issued on Wednesday evening.

"Italy is fully, and with its head held high, part of Europe and the Atlantic Alliance," she wrote, adding that "anyone who does not agree with this cornerstone will not be able to be part of the government, even at the cost of not forming a government."

READ ALSO: Outcry in Italy after Berlusconi defends Putin’s invasion of Ukraine

Giorgia Meloni, Matteo Salvini and Silvio Berlusconi.

The leaders of the right-wing bloc have been reportedly squabbling over Italy’s approach towards the war in Ukraine. Photo by Tiziana FABI / AFP

Berlusconi, 86, also claimed in a statement that his personal and political position "do not deviate from that of the Italian government [and] the European Union" on Ukraine.

"Meloni, Russian roulette," read the headline of La Repubblica newspaper on Thursday.

Days before Italy's elections on September 25th, Berlusconi caused uproar by appearing to defend Putin, saying the Russian leader was "pushed" into a "special operation".

Swearing in soon

As is customary, Mattarella's talks on Thursday began with the newly-elected president of the Senate, Ignazio La Russa, followed by the head of the lower house of parliament, Lorenzo Fontana - another figure who has been criticised for his support for Russia. 

These talks will be followed by consultations with the smaller parties in parliament and subsequently representatives from the main opposition party, the centre-left Democratic Party (PD).

READ ALSO: Who is the far-right veteran elected Italian Senate speaker?

New President of the Italian Senate, Fratelli d'Italia member Ignazio La Russa arrives at the Quirinale presidential palace in Rome on October 20th. Photo by Alberto PIZZOLI / AFP

On Friday morning, the head of state will receive a large delegation including all the members of the right-wing coalition that won the September 25th general elections.

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According to Italian press reports, Mattarella will wait for outgoing premier Mario Draghi to return on Friday afternoon from an EU summit in Brussels, which starts Thursday, before officially asking Meloni to form the new government later in the day.

If all the issues between the three coalition parties were to be settled by Friday evening, the new government could be sworn in as early as the weekend.

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