pubblicato il 18.11.07
Si è sciolto il gruppo parlamentare europeo di estrema destra ·

Da EuroNews

PE: sciolto il gruppo di estrema destra

Ha resistito appena dieci mesi il gruppo parlamentare di estrema destra “Identità, tradizione sovranità. Il suo scioglimento decretato da Edward McMillan Scott, vice presidente dell’Assemblea di Strasburgo, ha suscitato un lungo applauso in aula.

Non rispondeva più alle condizioni necessarie per l’esistenza di un gruppo, che deve contare almeno 20 membri. E che ha finito per averne appena 18 dopo che cinque parlamentari, appartenenti al partito romeno della Grande Romania, se ne sono andati in seguito alle dichiarazioni in aula di Alessandra Mussolini.

Dopo la morte di una donna italiana per cui è sospettato un rom, la Mussolini ha accusato i romeni di aver fatto della delinquenza uno stile di vita. L’alterco in aula è stato solo il pretesto per l’implosione del gruppo, minato già in precedenza da diverse querelle.

Il presidente del gruppo, il francese Bruno Gollnisch, ha accusato i deputati romeni di aver agito in questo modo in vista delle elezioni europee che in Romania si terranno il 25 novembre.

---

Da ReutersItalia

Parlamento Ue, gruppo estrema destra dopo polemica Mussolini

mercoledì, 14 novembre 2007 7.02

STRASBURGO, Francia (Reuters) – Il gruppo dell’estrema destra all’Europarlamento, “Identità, Tradizione e Sovranità”, si è sciolto ufficialmente oggi con l’uscita degli eletti del Partito della Grande Romania per protestare contro Alessandra Mussolini, secondo cui i romeni sono “delinquenti abituali”.

Tra gli applausi dell’aula, il vicepresidente dell’assemblea Ue di Strasburgo Edward McMillan-Scott ha annunciato la fine dell’ITS per mancanza del numero legale minimo di membri per costituire un gruppo parlamentare e accedere così a fondi e benefici, cioè 20 eurodeputati da almeno 6 diversi paesi.

Prima dell’uscita dei deputati romeni, l’ITS disponeva di 23 membri.

Reuters aveva scritto nei giorni scorsi che il gruppo era sull’orlo della rottura dopo che Mussolini, nipote del Duce e leader di un movimento di estrema destra, aveva rilasciato dichiarazioni che avevano provocato la reazione dei romeni. Inutili i tentativi di mediazione per salvare il gruppo, costituto nel gennaio scorso, l’unica altra possibilità sembrava essere quella dell’espulsione di Mussolini.

Secondo una email inviata la settimana scorsa nel sistema interno di messaggistica del Parlamento Ue, la Mussolini avrebbe descritto i romeni come “delinquenti abituali” e chiesto l’espulsione dell’ambasciatore romeno, dopo la vicenda dell’aggressione mortale a una donna a Roma di cui è accusato un giovane immigrato romeno.

---

Da The Guardian

Xenophobia destroys EU’s ultra-rightwing MEP group

Ian Traynor in Brussels
Thursday November 15, 2007
The Guardian

Europe’s first international grouping of neo-fascists, extreme nationalists and ultra-rightwingers collapsed in disarray yesterday, with its members incapable of overcoming the nationalist hostilities pitting them against one another.
The Identity, Tradition and Sovereignty grouping of MEPs from Italy, France, Austria, Bulgaria, Romania and Britain in the European parliament fell apart in acrimony because of the disputes between Italy and Romania over immigration and crime.

This week Alessandra Mussolini, the Italian neo-fascist, MEP and granddaughter of the Italian dictator, declared that all Romanians were criminals, triggering outrage among MEPs from Romania’s extreme Greater Romania party. Five quit the ITS caucus in protest, meaning that the transnational club failed to muster the 20 MEPs needed to qualify as a caucus in the European parliament and to benefit from funding and perks.

Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU in January, with their batch of far-right MEPs making it possible to form the caucus.
Parliament burst into applause on the implosion of the extremist grouping, which was formed just 10 months ago.

“Members of this rightwing group have been fighting among themselves like ferrets in a sack. They can’t even agree on the day of the week,” said Gary Titley, a Labour MEP.

Ashley Mote, previously of the UK Independence party and currently serving a prison sentence for benefit fraud, was the sole British member of the caucus.

The caucus linked France’s National Front with Italy’s neo-fascists, a former disciple of Jörg Haider, the Austrian nationalist, and xenophobes from Romania and Bulgaria. But the grouping struggled to hold together, not least because of mutually antagonistic nationalisms.

Martin Schulz, the German leader of the socialists in the parliament, said: “The good news is that the ‘international’ of the ultra-nationalists no longer exists and cannot use the money of the European taxpayer to support its xenophobia and neo-fascism.”

---

Da Spiegel International

CAT FIGHT ON THE FAR RIGHT
Mussolini’s Romania Comments Split Extremist MEP Group

The European Parliament’s miniscule far-right group is on the verge of collapse after the Romanian members threatened to walk out in response to derogatory comments by another member, Italian MEP Alessandra Mussolini.

When xenophobic far-right political parties in the European Parliament formed a group last year (more…), many predicted it would fall victim to its inherent contradictions. Parties whose bread and butter is attacking foreigners were expected to find it a bit difficult to cooperate even if they were all cut from the same extremist cloth.

Now the Romanian contingent of the Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty group (ITS) is threatening to pull the plug. The Greater Romania Party on Thursday announced it was withdrawing its five members because of comments by Alessandra Mussolini, granddaughter of the Italian dictator, about Romanians.

The standoff between Italian and Romanian xenophobes was sparked by the murder of an Italian woman last week, which police suspect was perpetrated by a Romanian immigrant from the Roma community. While the center-left Italian government has responded by authorizing the expulsion of any Romanians, or other EU citizens, who are deemed to pose a danger, the Italian far-right has been calling for even harsher measures.

Mussolini was quoted as saying this week that: “Breaking the law became a way of life for Romanians. However, it is not about petty crimes, but horrifying crimes, that gives one goose bumps.”

Romania’s far-right reacted with fury. The head of the Greater Romania Party, Corneliu Vadim Tudor said in a letter to the parliament: “The unconsciousness of this lady who makes easily generalizations, leaving us to understand that all the Romanians are living like delinquents and are making dreadful crimes, reminds us of her grandfather, the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.”

Later on Thursday, the Romanians said they would consider staying in the group if Mussolini were removed. This would allow the group to continue to fulfill EU parliament rules stipulating that all political groups have a minimum of 20 members from at least six member states. The group currently has 23 members. If it collapses, members of the ITS would lose a range of political and financial privileges such as speaking time, extra staff and places on overseas delegations.

The diverse group cobbles together the 27-member bloc’s anti-immigrant and Euroskeptic parties and politicians such as Jean-Marie Le Pen’s National Front from France, Belgium’s Vlaams Belang and Bulgarian MEP Dimitar Stoyanov.

The infighting in the ITS has been regarded with some degree of wry amusement by other MEPs. Martin Schulz, leader of the Socialists in the European Parliament said the ITS memberswere “a casualty of their own philosophy which paints all foreigners in a single mold and encourages xenophobic and racist comments.”

One Scottish MEP, Alyn Smith, even released a statement to express his schadenfreude: “Watching these people argue amongst themselves warms the heart.”

smd/reuters