Italian minister quits amid schism over arms to Ukraine
ITALY’S foreign minister has quit his party in a dispute over whether the country should continue supporting the hard line against Russia by sending weapons to the Ukrainians.
The departure of Luigi Di Maio is a blow for the Five Star Movement, which has seen its support plummet from a high of 33 per cent a few years ago to 12 per cent in recent local elections.
The minister, who will continue to remain a key member of the governing coalition, will take at least 60 MPS and senators with him and intends to set up a new political group in parliament.
Mr Di Maio’s decision to abandon the party was described by an Italian newspaper yesterday as “an earthquake” for the Five Star Movement, the biggest party in Italy’s general election in 2018.
Tensions within the ruling coalition over support for Ukraine have been simmering for weeks.
Five Star and the hard-right League party, both of which have been soft on Moscow in the past, have objected to the dispatch of more armaments to Kyiv and called for immediate peace talks.
Mr Di Maio clashed with Giuseppe Conte, the leader of Five Star, who is opposed to more weapons being sent to Ukraine. He said he could no longer tolerate such a stance by his party, and argued that it threatened Italy’s standing within Nato.
He said Five Star should “support the government without ambiguity”.
“At this historical juncture, supporting European and Atlanticist values cannot be considered a fault,” he added.
The disagreements in the coalition reflect broader divisions across the whole country over Ukraine. According to a recent poll by state-owned RAI television, about 45 per cent of Italians are against sending armaments to Kyiv.
The schism will have implications for the next general election in spring.
“The split complicates prospects for a broad centre-left alliance ahead of the elections, especially if Five Star exits the government,” said Federico Santi from the Eurasia Group political consultancy.
Such a prospect would “reinforce expectations that the election will produce a coalition government dominated by far-right Eurosceptic parties”, Mr Santi added.