Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is stepping down as president of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), the right-wing group which is the third-largest in the European Parliament and is increasingly calling the shots in Brussels.
“When I was asked to extend my term until the [EU] elections, I agreed,” Meloni on Sunday told an annual festival organized by her party, Brothers of Italy, which accounts for the biggest delegation in the ECR with 24 lawmakers, as reported by news agency ANSA.
“Now that the elections have taken place, I think I have fulfilled my duty and I want to announce that I am going to resign as president of the European Conservatives,” Meloni said, stressing that the group now “deserves to have a president who can deal with it full time.”
Poland’s former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has been vying for the leadership of the ECR, with his Law and Justice (PiS) party holding 20 MEPs.
Meloni, who has held the position since 2020, said she expected Morawiecki to run and would back him.
