Strasbourg, 15/11/2007 (Agence Europe) - The president of the European Parliament announced the dissolution, on Wednesday 14 November, of the extreme right Identity, Tradition and Sovereignty (ITS) group following the departure of three further Romanian group members (after two had already left, see EUROPE 9542): Viorica-Pompilia-Georgeta Moisuc, Cristian Stanescu and Daniela Buruiana. These defections (by five of the six Romanian members) bring ITS down from 23 to 18 MEPs, below the required number of 20 to be able to form a political group in the EP. All the former members of the now defunct group will sit among the non-attached members, and will see the additional logistical and financial support, which they enjoyed as group members, removed.
The number of groups in the EP now falls from eight to seven: EPP-ED, PES, ALDE, UEN, Greens/EFA, GUE/NGL and ID. The ITS group was formed on 15 January 2007 as a result of the enlargement of the Parliament to include MEPs from Bulgaria and Romania, which joined the EU at the start of the year. The departure of the five “Great Romania” party MEPs follows the comments of an ITS member, Italian Alessandra Mussolini, which were considered “anti-Romanian”. She had strongly condemned the savage murder of an Italian woman by a Romanian of Roma origin in Italy at the end of October.
In an interview with Romanian press, the granddaughter of Il Duce said all Romanians made “crime a way of life” and said that all Romanians were “undesirable citizens” in Italy. With the passing of their group, far right MEPs will suffer a reduction of some 10% in their funding. They will also lose their access facility to the work rooms in the Parliament and interpretation facilities for their meetings. (L.C.)