EU civil war brews as Von Der Leyen delivers brutal snub to Italy's PM Meloni
Ursula von der Leyen is trying to muster support as she seeks re-election as President of the European Commission.
A European Union civil war could be brewing after Ursula von der Leyen pledged to a group of liberal MEPs she won't establish a "structured cooperation" with Giorgia Meloni's Eurosceptic European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) alliance.
Ms Von der Leyen is facing a vote in the European parliament next Thursday, during which she hopes to be re-elected as the President of the European Commission.
In a bid to win the vote of a majority in the 720-strong parliament, the German politician quashed fears harboured by the liberal group Renew Europe she may "flirt" with the ECR.
Valerie Hayer, the French MEP who presides Renew Europe, told Euronews after the meeting with Ms Von der Leyen: "We had good exchanges with Ursula von der Leyen. Frank and tough questions from our side.
"We made very clear that we don’t accept any flirt with the far right. She gave us commitments. We will look at this very closely, of course."
Ms Hayer, who said Renew's view is that the ECR is not a "pro-European group", added the Commission President promised the European Liberals to "build a coalition as she has done" in her first mandate, backed by the centre-right EPP, the centre-left S&D and Renew.
Two Renew officials said during the closed-door meeting, Ms von der Leyen had promised "no structured cooperation" with ECR during a potential second term, according to euronews.com.
Renew won 77 seats at the June election, and together with the S&D and EPP would create a 400-seat majority able to support Ms Von der Leyen's presidential bid comfortably.
However, as her re-election will be decided through a secret ballot, there is the expectation some members of this pro-EU alliance may vote against the Commission President.
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One group that could reinforce her chances for re-election without upsetting the Liberals is the Greens, who won 53 seats in June.
In the run-up to the European elections and in the hours that followed, reports swirled of a possible collaboration between Italian Prime Minister Ms Meloni, one of the most important voices in the ECR, and Ms Von der Leyen.
A similar move, however, would alienate Renew and the S&D, who see the entirety of the ECR as hard-right.
The EPP, which in June retained the largest share of the seats in the European parliament, has a softer view of the ECR, considering Ms Meloni's Brothers of Italy more constructive and pragmatic than Poland's Law and Justice, also within the Eurosceptic group.
