Elections in three countries and the conflict between Rome and Paris. What do the media write about Europe?
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- Elections in three countries and the conflict between Rome and Paris. What do the media write about Europe?
The conflict between Italian Prime Minister Giorgi Meloni and French President Emmanuel Macron overshadowed the main political events in Europe. They quarreled over participating in a meeting with US President Donald Trump, to which the Italian leader was not allowed. At the same time, the presidential elections in Poland and Romania, as well as the parliamentary elections in Portugal, unexpectedly ended. What the world's media write about Europe is in the Izvestia digest.
The Telegraph: Meloni and Macron quarreled over a call to Trump
An acute diplomatic rift has emerged between Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and French President Emmanuel Macron. During the European Political Community summit in Albania, Meloni was not invited to a joint call with US President Donald Trump. She told Italian journalists that she was blocked due to her refusal to send troops to Ukraine as part of the proposed "coalition of the willing."
The Telegraph
Macron, who spoke on the phone with [the British Prime Minister] Keir Starmer, Donald Tusk, the Polish prime minister, and Friedrich Merz, the German Chancellor, accused Meloni of spreading disinformation. "It's about a cease—fire - let's avoid spreading false information. There is enough of it coming from Russia," the French president said.
Subsequently, Meloni called on all leaders to "abandon selfishness" and focus on creating a united front to reach a peace agreement. Italian media described the prime minister's absence from meetings in Albania as deliberate neglect, suggesting that Macron did not want her to participate. It is known that the two politicians have a cool relationship, and in the past Meloni was filmed rolling her eyes after shaking hands with Macron.
Financial Times: Merz tried to reconcile Meloni and Macron
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has tried to soften the bitter diplomatic dispute between Rome and Paris over Meloni's exclusion from a group of European leaders coordinating with the White House on Ukraine. Merz met with Meloni on the eve of Sunday's inaugural mass of Pope Leo XIV and tried to defuse the situation, saying that both leaders agreed that Italy "must play a role" in all European peace initiatives in Ukraine.
Financial Times
In the coming days, I will hold talks in the European Union to involve Italy in all our efforts to resolve this conflict," Merz said at a press conference in Rome. "We must not allow ourselves to be divided," he said, adding that there are no "primary" or "secondary" members in the EU and that all countries strive to "end this <military operation> as soon as possible."
In addition to her long-standing feud with Macron, Meloni had a strained relationship with Merz's predecessor Olaf Scholz, who, along with his coalition partners, publicly criticized her for her migration policy. However, Merz, whose center-right Christian Democrats have made tightening migration policy a central point of their manifesto, is trying to establish cordial relations with Meloni.
Bloomberg: Far-right gained strength in Portuguese elections
Portugal's ruling center-right coalition, the Democratic Alliance, has won early elections, as a result of which the far-right Chega party has achieved a rise that has shaken the two-party system that has dominated the country's political life for 50 years. The coalition won almost 33% of the vote and increased the number of seats in parliament from at least 80 to 89.
Bloomberg
Chega was in the spotlight, and the results showed that it could overtake the Socialist Party and become the second largest faction in parliament. Both groups shared 58 seats each, or 23% of the vote. It remains to allocate only four seats reserved for voters living abroad. In the 2024 elections, Chega won two of these seats, while the coalition and the Socialists each took one.
If the far-right group were to become the country's main opposition party, it would be the first time in the five decades since the end of Portugal's dictatorship that anyone outside the center-right or center-left parties had been so close to power. After three elections in three years, the parties will be under increasing pressure, as they will have to find a way to reduce political instability and allow the country to have a government capable of lasting more than a year.
Reuters: Centrist defeats far-right candidate in Romanian presidential election
Bucharest's centrist mayor Nicusor Dan has won Romania's presidential election, unexpectedly beating his far-right nationalist rival George Simion, who promised to steer Romania along a path inspired by Trump's policies. Official results from almost all polling stations showed that Dan won about 54% of the vote.
Reuters
Dan, 55, a quiet mathematician, has made a leap to the top in recent days after weeks of hunting for Simion, a eurosceptic who wants to end military aid to Ukraine <...>. The election attracted the highest percentage of voter turnout in Romanian elections in 25 years. Simion, who won the most votes in the first round of the election two weeks ago (41%), admitted defeat, although he had previously stated that he had won the election.
Dan led his campaign promising to fight rampant corruption, maintain support for Ukraine, where Romania plays an important logistical role, and firmly keep the country in line with the European mainstream. Being a staunch supporter of the EU and NATO, Dan stated in the run-up to the elections that Ukraine's support is crucial for its own security.
Politico: in the Polish presidential election, the mayor of Warsaw gained a slight advantage
Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski narrowly defeated his Karol Nawrocki in the first round of the Polish presidential election, which prepared them both for an intense fight in the second round on June 1. Trzaskowski, a representative of Prime Minister Donald Tusk's Civic Platform party, scored 31.36% of the vote, while Navrotsky, who is supported by the populist right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party, scored 29.54% based on the results of the vote count.
Politico
"I told you eight months ago that it would be very close, and it's really very close,— Trzaskowski said at a rally held by his campaign on Sunday evening. "This result shows how strong and determined we need to be to win the presidential election," he added. — We're at the finish line. We will win!"
The mayor of Warsaw is now facing immediate pressure to broaden his appeal to a wider electorate. The battle between Trzaskowski and Navrotsky will be over who can attract the voters who chose one of the minor candidates in the first round. Trzaskowski will be fishing among supporters of centrist and leftist candidates, while Navrotsky will hope to attract support from far-right Slawomir Menzen, who finished third with 14.8%.
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