Italy votes in EU elections, with Giorgia Meloni most likely to emerge powerbroker
Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni
Italy voted in to elect the members of European Union's next parliament on Saturday (June 8), in a test of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's popularity in the key European nation. Most of European Union's 27 member nations, including France and Germany, will go to polls on Sunday (June 9), with projected overall results due late evening.
The polling stations have opened in the French Pacific territory on New Caledonia where deadly riots erupted towards the end of last month.
Italy's role in EU elections: What does it mean?
Italy has 76 of 720 seats in the post-Brexit EU parliament. As the European Union's third largest economy, Rome carries significant influence in the EU after the exit of Britain from the bloc.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni cast her vote in Rome constituency and told reporters that the elections will "shape the next five years".
Polls suggest that Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy party could win up to 27 per cent of vote, more than four times its 2019 score amid a broader surge of the far-right groups across the Europe.
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A victory for the Brothers of Italy could establish Prime Minister Meloni as a powerbroker. Meloni's future political decisions in the EU following the results of these elections would determine whether EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen get the backing she needs from both EU member states and the parliament for a second term.
But critics are warning against overestimating Meloni's influence.
"Meloni will have an influence on Italian interests, at the commission, in parliament," one EU diplomat told news agency AFP on the condition of anonymity.
"She will play the game. But does that make her a kingmaker? No."
Also watch |EU Parliament elections: Voting underway on the third day of elections
Prime Minister Meloni rose to power in 2022 amid concerns over irregular flow of illegal migrants across the Mediterranean.
Immigration continues to be the key issue that is driving the support to parties perceived as far-right. Such parties are forecast to win at least a quarter of EU parliament seats but the centrist mainstream parties are still most likely to come on top.
(With inputs from agencies)