Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio. File photoROME, Jun 21Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio announced his withdrawal from the ruling Five Star Movement over serious disagreements over the situation in Ukraine, describing his choice as painful. The press conference in Rome was broadcast live by RaiNews24.
"I never imagined that I would have to do it. Today, I and many other colleagues are leaving the "Movement of Five Stars", which from tomorrow will no longer be the largest political force in Parliament", the minister said.
According to him, recently between him and some leaders of D5Z, significant disagreements arose over the Ukrainian crisis, when everyone had to choose which side of history to be on. «The positions of some D5Z leaders risked weakening our country,» the Italian Foreign Minister said.The leadership of the «Movement of Five Stars» opposed the supply of weapons to Kiev Di Maio also accused the current leadership of the «Movement» in an ambiguous position on foreign policy issues. He added that he did not intend to create his own political organization. Earlier on Tuesday, local media reported that supporters of the Italian Foreign Minister began collecting signatures in both houses of parliament to form separate parliamentary groups. This requires the consent of at least 20 parliamentarians in the Chamber of Deputies, and in the Senate — at least ten. According to available information, about 60 people left the Five Star Movement along with Di Maio. Over the past weekend, Italian publications reported that the Five Star Movement, which is part of the Italian government coalition, was on the verge of a split due to a heated discussion on the issue of military assistance to Ukraine. Previously, the leader of the D5Z, former Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, proposed to adopt a special resolution and enshrine in it the obligation not to continue further arms supplies to Kyiv, as this could seriously jeopardize the de-escalation of the conflict.
Italy's Five Star Movement questioned the country's ruling majority This proposal drew sharp criticism from Di Maio, who accused the D5Z leadership of retreating from the principles of Atlantic solidarity. In addition, in response to Conte, Chairman of the Chamber of Deputies Roberto Fico and some other top leaders accused the Foreign Minister of unfounded attacks on all members of the Movement. As a result, the Senate of the Republic adopted a resolution on Ukraine. The issue of sending weapons to Kyiv is reflected in the text of the document in the wording about «broad involvement of the parliament» if new military supplies are needed. On February 24, Russia launched a special military operation to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine. Vladimir Putin called its goal «to protect people who have been subjected to harassment and genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years.» of the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine as of 21.06.2022