With the European parliament elections coming up in June of 2024, the rift between french politician Marine Le Pen’s far-right party and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s nationalist party could slow the conservative party’s goals of gaining power in the EU. According to an article by Reuters, Meloni objected to a French minister’s comparison of her with Marine Le Pen, even contacting French president Emmanuel Macron to voice her disagreement. This interaction signifies that there are major inconsistencies between the two leaders’ right wing parties, effectively ruling out the chances for a merger. 

According to the Reuters article, Meloni recently formed an alliance with the French far-right party Reconquete in the European parliament. In other words, she is interested in working with members and parties of the European parliament rather than distancing herself from them. Le Pen, on the other hand, is known for her extremely eurosceptic views, previously calling for France to leave the EU. Additionally, Le Pen is known to have past ties to Russia, potentially putting off Meloni, who has continually voiced support for Ukraine. According to an article by the Economist, Le Pen’s party took a loan from a bank linked to the Kremlin in 2014. Since then, Le Pen has opposed the expansion of NATO to Sweden and Finland due to Russia’s worries about having NATO on its borders, and she has discouraged sending heavy weapons to Ukraine. Meloni, however, is a strong supporter of NATO and arming Ukraine. Since the party is torn on large issues like these, speculators believe that the far-right will have trouble consolidating their power and furthering their goals within the EU. 

However, a recent article by the French newspaper Le Monde suggests that Le Pen and Meloni may be interested in reconciling their differences. While it is still unlikely that the two will merge, there is a possibility for the formation of alliances, as evidenced by Meloni’s positive comments about Le Pen and possibly forming a post-election alliance with her party, the Rassemblement National (RN) at a recent press conference. 

If the two parties end up forming an alliance or a merger, the far-right would potentially have a large influence in the European parliament. Even though Le Pen’s stance currently seems too eurosceptic and radical for Meloni to support, there is a possibility that Le Pen will reverse some of her convictions in order to maintain power, similar to how she reverted her unpopular stance on taking France off of the euro. Additionally, Meloni’s stance on Le Pen could change if Le Pen wins France’s 2027 presidential election. According to the Economist, Le Pen’s stances could pose threats to the structure of the EU itself, especially if she gains enough support from other far-right parties.