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POLITICS

How Italy’s Five Star Movement wants to change EU politics

Italy's Five Star Movement (M5S) wants to team up with like-minded populist parties and form a new grouping within the European Parliament to take power from the traditional left and right, its leader said Sunday.

How Italy's Five Star Movement wants to change EU politics
Five Star leader and Italian deputy Prime Minister Luigi di Maio speaking during the European election campaign in Waraw, Poland. Photo: Janek SKARZYNSKI/AFP

“I don't think that the traditional parties have the potential to attain an absolute majority in the European Parliament,” M5S chief Luigi di Maio said.

Speaking at an event in Warsaw with Poland's populist Kukiz'15 movement and Croatia's Zivi Zid (Human Shield) party, Di Maio said the traditional differentiation between politics of the “left” and “right” was “outdated”.

READ ALSO: Luigi Di Maio, the face of Italian populism

“I prefer to distinguish between good and bad ideas,” said Di Maio, who is also Italy's deputy prime minister.

He said his party was open to collaboration with any political movement “that comes up with good proposals.” 

Photo: Janek SKARZYNSKI/AFP

Di Maio's Polish host, the punk-rocker-turned-politician Pawel Kukiz, said his party's slogan for the EU elections would be “Poland in Europe, Europe for Poland” and that the focus of his campaign would be the fight against the “ossified elites”.

“We cannot accept that Europe is in the hands of the European Commission, which in reality serves the interests of two states, a sort of marriage between (French President Emmanuel) Macron and (German Chancellor) Angela Merkel,” he said.

Analysts have said that Italy's populist government — comprised of Di Maio's M5S and the far-right League — is on its last legs, with the two parties split over various issues since taking power last June.

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TERRORISM

Italy on maximum terror alert over Easter after Moscow attack

Italy was to increase surveillance in busy areas ahead of the Easter holidays and following the bombing of a Moscow concert hall, ministers agreed on Monday.

Italy on maximum terror alert over Easter after Moscow attack

Italy’s national committee for public security, chaired by Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, on Monday said anti-terrorism monitoring in Italy must be strengthened ahead of the Easter holidays, with more surveillance to be carried out at popular tourist spots and at “sensitive sites”.

The committee agreed on “the importance of continuing monitoring activity, including online, by police and intelligence forces for the identification of possible risk situations” in Italy, reported news agency Ansa.

The security meeting was convened following the terrorist attack in Moscow on Friday where armed men opened fire and set the building ablaze, killing at least 133 people.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani had stressed to the public on Sunday that Italy faced “no concrete risk” and said the country’s security and law enforcement services were “always on the alert to prevent any attack.”

“During the Easter holidays you will need to be very careful. We will always do the utmost to ensure the safety of citizens and tourists,” Tajani said, speaking on national broadcaster Rai’s current affairs show Restart.

READ ALSO: Terror alerts: Should I be worried about travelling to Italy?

The fight against terrorism “has nothing to do with the war in Ukraine,” the minister continued.

“We support Ukraine” as an invaded country in which international law has been violated, he said, “but as the Italian government we have expressed our condemnation of the attack [in Moscow] and closeness to the families of the victims and the survivors”.

Cabinet Secretary Alfredo Mantovano said on the same programme that the main terrorist threat Italy faced at the moment was mainly from “lone wolves” and “not so much from organised groups.”

“I believe that a group like the one that acted in the Moscow attack, which must have been trained and had logistical support, would be intercepted sooner in Italy,” he said.

“The most worrying threat” in Italy was online recruitment, he said, noting that propaganda was closely monitored.

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