Italy’s Meloni says Le Pen’s ban disenfranchises millions

ROME: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Tuesday condemned the ban on French far-right leader Marine Le Pen running for office, saying it disenfranchised millions of people.

“I don’t know the merits of the accusations against Marine Le Pen, or the reasons for such a strong decision,” Meloni, leader of the post-fascist Brothers of Italy party, told the Il Messaggero daily.

“But I think that no one who cares about democracy can rejoice at a sentence that targets the leader of a major party and deprives millions of citizens of representation.”

Le Pen was on Monday found guilty of creating fake jobs at the EU parliament on behalf of her National Rally (RN) party, charges she had denied.

She was barred from running for office for five years, which would scupper her hopes of winning the 2027 French presidency.

Le Pen — who is to appeal — was also given a four-year prison sentence, although she will not go to jail as half of it was suspended and the rest will be served with an electronic tag.

Meloni’s deputy prime minister, League leader Matteo Salvini, had on Monday called the sentence a “declaration of war by Brussels”.

“In Paris they condemned Marine Le Pen and would like to exclude her from political life. A bad film that we are also seeing in other countries like Romania,” wrote Salvini on social media.

He called it a “declaration of war by Brussels, at a time when the war instincts of Von der Leyen and Macron are frightening. We don’t let ourselves be intimidated, we don’t stop: full speed ahead my friend!”

The eurosceptic Salvini often rails against EU chief Ursula von der Leyen, as well as French President Emmanuel Macron.

His League is part of the same European Parliament bloc as Le Pen’s party, Patriots for Europe, and the two leaders are closely allied.

-AFP