Far-right leader Giorgia Meloni, a favorite in the September 25 legislative elections in Italy, criticized Brussels' proposal to suspend funding to Hungary due to corruption risks.
"
The real anti-Europeans are those who, when we are under attack and the EU should be stronger than ever, say that we need a Europe of the 1st division and another of the second division, and who do everything to throw Hungary in the arms of Putin
,” she said in an interview with the ultra-conservative newspaper Il Giornale published on Monday.
The European Commission on Sunday proposed to member states to suspend 7.5 billion euros in European funding to Hungary, due to risks linked to corruption, pending the implementation of reforms.
"Bringing Nations Together"
Giorgia Meloni's party, Fratelli d'Italia, which maintains close ties with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, is campaigning on a nationalist program calling in particular for "
a different Europe
" with more powers for member states.
In her interview, Giorgia Meloni calls for "
bringing European nations together instead of pushing them apart and dividing them by using the issue of the rule of law as an ideological weapon to hit those who are not considered to be in line
".
The Commission cited in particular "
irregularities
" and "
deficiencies
" in Hungary in public procurement procedures and the "
abnormally
» high number of unique candidates for these contracts.
In another interview on Sunday, Giorgia Meloni criticized Brussels' policy towards Poland, also implicated for its breaches of the rule of law, while it supports many refugees from Ukraine. .
However, she added: "
Orban will make his choices, I do not do what Orban says (...) I only take into account the national interest of Italy
".
Fratelli d'Italia is the dominant party in a coalition that also includes Matteo Salvini's Anti-Migrant League and Silvio Berlusconi's conservative Forza Italia.
Read alsoItaly: the meteoric rise of Giorgia Meloni, the leader of the post-fascist party
According to the latest polls authorized before the election, this coalition is clearly in the lead with 46% of voting intentions.
At a party rally on Sunday, Salvini said: “
I respect the democratic choices of all countries in the world.
Orban did good things, he also made mistakes
.
As for Berlusconi, who presents himself as more moderate, he underlined that Orban's policies “
are different from ours, as is his vision of Europe
”.