Vannacci, M5s and Avs: axis in the House against arms to Ukraine

A few days after bidding farewell to the League, the Vanaccians throw down the gauntlet to Matteo Salvini on the Ukraine decree. And they do so by presenting, as announced in recent days, an amendment and three agendas against sending arms to Kiev. "Let's see how many patriots in the centre-right will vote in favour of the Italians and especially how many absentees there will be among the ranks of the League, which has been saying for months that it no longer wants to send aid to Zelensky but then, in fact, blatantly denies itself," say Rossano Sasso, Edoardo Ziello (former leghisti) and Emanuele Pozzolo (former FdI). The amendatory proposal of the general's followers goes in the same direction as those of the Avs and Movimento 5 stelle but, in all likelihood, none of them will be voted on: the government in the early afternoon is expected to put the question of confidence on the measure to eliminate any risk on the vote also deriving from this strange 'welding'. As pointed out by the PD and Avs, for example, with Beppe Provenzano and Angelo Bonelli.

The decision to armour the decree in its path through the Chamber of Deputies is said to have come about during a debate between the majority and the executive to 'avoid instrumentalisation' on such a delicate issue. FdI confirms its "convinced" support to the "resistance" of the Ukrainians and disputes the "narrative fed and conditioned by the Kremlin", according to which it would be useless or harmful to support Kiev while Moscow wins the war: fake news, is the line of Giorgia Meloni's party, according to which instead Russia is "mired in a war of attrition that it cannot win". The vote of confidence will also serve to observe where the three Vannaccians will place themselves, it is reasoned in majority circles: whether with the majority, with the opposition, or among the abstainers. And in this case it is the leghists who stand at the window, perhaps hoping that Vannacci will exclude himself - even in perspective - from the centre-right government.

On the specific point, the three deputies of National Future have not yet decided what to do (they will meet in the coming hours), but in the meantime they claim their 'first victory'. "Salvini is afraid of the vote and is asking to have confidence placed in the decree with the sole aim of preventing the vote on our amendment," Ziello urges. He will not be able to avoid our three agendas. A reconstruction, that of the Legahist push for a vote of confidence, categorically denied by the Salvinians. 'In the League there is no reasoning about Vannacciani,' remarked party sources, 'also because in these days we are reaping the benefits of exceptional Olympics. Matteo Salvini in clear speaks openly of a 'closed chapter' with the general and of Futuro Nazionale automatically standing outside the government majority. On the Ukraine decree, the League's line is reiterated by deputy Fabrizio Cecchetti: 'The hope is that among the aid we will allocate there will be no more armament materials because this will mean that we will finally stop fighting', for now 'we have obtained that the civil defence of Ukraine will be strengthened'. The Vannaccians point the spotlight on the possible absences when voting on the agendas and the final vote: there would be five or six - they suggest - former Leghist colleagues in the Chamber to whom the sending of arms to Kiev still does not go down well. "The majority does not keep its internal contradictions, this is also the Vannacci effect," points the finger at Avs group leader Luana Zanella.

In the centre-left, the picture is equally fractious. In the Chamber, the PD will vote no to the confidence but in favour of the measure. On the other hand, the M5s, which - like Avs - has long embraced the cause of stopping arms to Kiev, does not want to be superimposed on Vannacci: "We will not lend our side and we will not legitimise the instrumental operation of those who aim at restyling their image on Kiev and pacifism after 4 years of legislature spent voting the Meloni line". Translated: the Pentastellati are unlikely to vote in favour of the Sasso, Ziello and Pozzolo odg. But it is the commonality of intent alone that makes some of the Dems jump off their chairs: 'On a day, the umpteenth, when Russia is massacring Ukraine, I read about amendments and agendas from our 'allies'. I feel horror,' Senator Filippo Sensi blurts out on social media. And from Action Carlo Calenda announces: 'On the 21st I am leaving for Ukraine to honour those who have been fighting for freedom for four years.