The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, on Sunday proposed former Italian Foreign Minister and ex leader of the Five Star Movement (M5S) Luigi Di Maio as the new European Union Special Representative for the Gulf.
Borrell indicated Di Maio for the post in a letter addressed to
the 27 member states.
"Following very careful deliberation, I consider that the
best-suited candidate is Mr Luigi Di Maio," wrote Borrell.
"As former foreign minister of Italy, Mr Luigi Di Maio has the
necessary political profile at the international level for this
role," he added.
Di Maio's "broad contacts" with Gulf countries "will allow him
to engage with the relevant actors at the appropriate level,"
continued the EU foreign policy chief.
"We have to maintain the momentum of our enhanced engagement
with the Gulf. I therefore count on your support to Mr Di Maio
in implementing our strategic partnership with Gulf partners,"
he added, proposing the appointment of Di Maio as EU Special
Representative for the Gulf "for an initial period of 21
months", starting on June 1, 2023 until February 28, 2025.
The proposal must now be ratified by the 27 EU member states by
a qualified majority.
However, sources close to the dossier said ratification is not
expected to take place at the Foreign Affairs Council in
Luxembourg on Monday.
Meanwhile in Italy news of the proposal met mixed reactions,
with Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani of the
centre-right Forza Italia party describing it as a "legitimate
choice", but saying that Di Maio "is not the candidate of the
Italian government".
"It is Borrell's legitimate choice, in his faculties as EU High
Representative," Tajani said during current affairs talk show
'Mezz'ora in più' on Rai 3.
However, "Di Maio was indicated by (former premier Mario) Draghi
and is not the candidate of the Italian government," he added.
Other politicians on the right and centre also weighed in on the
proposal to appoint the 36-year-old who served as foreign
minister under two governments led respectively by Giuseppe
Conte and Mario Draghi from September 2019 to October 2022, with
some hailing the choice as "good news" and others describing it
as "an insult" to Italy.
"If Europe chooses an Italian as its special envoy, it is
certainly good news for the country as a whole, unless we want
to once again export our petty quarrels to the EU level," said
Senator and former Lower House Speaker Pier Ferdinando Casini.
"Good luck to Luigi Di Maio with his work," said Ettore Rosato
of the centrist formation Action-IV.
"Having an Italian there is always good news for our country,"
he added.
Former foreign minister and Lower House Speaker Gianfranco Fini
said he was "delighted".
"I hope he is up to such a difficult task, it will be
interesting to see how he will carry out the mandate," said Fini
during current affairs talk show 'Mezz'ora in più' on Rai 3.
However centre-right Forza Italia Senator Maurizio Gasparri
described the choice as "absurd and shameful".
"It discredits the proponents and the European Union itself," he
added.
"Di Maio is totally inadequate. The mere fact of considering him
casts ridicule on those that do so. Enough of these incapable
armchair grabbers," Gasparri said.
In a statement, right-wing League Senators said the decision to
indicate Di Maio was "politically outrageous".
It is an "affront to the will of Italians who expressed
themselves clearly last September 25 by choosing the
center-right" in general elections.
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