Tommaso Foti will replace Raffaele Fitt, who has resigned.
Tommaso Foti, a close ally of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, became the new Italian Minister for European Affairs and Regional Policy on Monday. As reported by ANSA and Reuters, Foti will replace Raffaele Fitt, who resigned on Saturday to take up the position of Executive Vice-President of the European Commission (EC) responsible for cohesion and reform policy.
Foti took the oath in the hands of President Sergio Matarella in the presidential palace in Rome, writes TASR. “Tommaso is a politician with great experience and abilities, he is among the best that the Brothers of Italy (FdI) have today,” said Meloniová after the ceremony.
However, the Reuters agency wrote about Foti that, although he is an experienced member of parliament, he does not have special expertise in EU affairs. He was the chairman of the FdI parliamentary club in the lower house of the parliament. Foti – like Meloniová – is a former activist of the now defunct post-fascist party Italian Social Movement (MSI).
Fitto, who ran for the European Commission for the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) faction, also belongs to the Brothers of Italy. In the European Commission, Fito will oversee how EU member states, including Italy, manage financial aid from Brussels.
