His appointment in France raises indignation on the other side of the Alps. Sandro Gozi, an Italian politician, now elected MEP on the LREM list, joined the cabinet of Prime Minister Edouard Philippe earlier this week. And this collaboration does not please much in the Italian political class.
“Inadmissible” “betrayal” … If his candidacy on the list In March for the European had already tense in Rome, Sandro Gozi attracts the wrath of the far right and the Italian 5-Star Movement since he became mission manager at Matignon. In question, a supposed mixture of genres, between his past functions, those of centrist minister in Rome and Italian deputy, and his current role with Edward Philippe.
“We must ask ourselves if we must withdraw his nationality”
The vice-president of the Council of Ministers, Luigi di Maio, does not hesitate to mention a possible withdrawal of his Italian nationality. “You work for the government, you represent, you serve the Italian state and then at a certain point you betray it to enlist you in the ranks of another government, as responsible for the European policy of Macron”, s’ Is he insurgent? And to add: “We have nothing against France, but we must ask ourselves if we must withdraw his nationality.”
Romano Prodi’s colleague at the head of the European Commission, Sandro Gozi, 51, was Italian Secretary of State for European Affairs from 2014 to 2018. Elected to the European Parliament in May, he is one of five MEPs to sit for France who will take office only after the Brexit and the departure of the British elected officials.
Diplomatic tensions between Rome and Paris
If Sandro Gozi has told Europe 1 “do not want to return to the subject for the moment,” a close Edouard Philippe sweeps the controversy: “The Prime Minister is very happy to welcome Sandro Gozi in his cabinet. although we wear different conceptions of Europe. ” What reminder that relations between Paris and Rome are still tense .
