Poland's PiS ready to talk with Italian, Spanish far-right - PM

Poland's PiS ready to talk with Italian, Spanish far-right - PM
FILE PHOTO: Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki arrives at an extraordinary European Union leaders summit to discuss Brexit, in Brussels, Belgium April 10, 2019. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo Copyright Yves Herman(Reuters)
Copyright Yves Herman(Reuters)
By Reuters
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WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland's ruling nationalists Law and Justice (PiS) are ready for talks on a European parliamentary alliance with Italy's far-right League party and Spain's Vox, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told Polska Times.pl in remarks published on Friday.

Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, who leads the League, has been trying to form a bloc of like-minded, anti-immigration parties, but his progress has been hindered by conflicting national interests.

"We are flexible, but we rule out an alliance with any faction that would have France's National Front as a member," Morawiecki said, using the former name of the far-right party now know as National Rally, which is led by Marine Le Pen.

"We are ready to talk with Salvini's party, with the Spanish party Vox and with others," he said.

Europe's myriad sovereigntist parties share the broad goals of returning power to EU member states and further curbing immigration, but they often have very different economic and social policies, making it hard to create a coherent group within the EU parliament.

PiS and the League differ on how to handle immigration and their views on the economy do not align. PiS is also highly suspicious of the close ties Le Pen and Salvini have forged with Moscow.

Many polls show anti-immigration parties making gains across Europe.

National Rally leads voting intentions in France. In Italy, the final polls published before a cut-off date two weeks ago showed the League with a clear lead, although it seemed to be losing momentum.

In Poland, PiS has been ahead in most polls during the European election campaign, but as the vote approaches the picture has become more mixed. On Friday, two polls put the broad European Coalition of opposition parties in the lead, while one put PiS ahead.

Poland holds its EU vote on Sunday.

(Reporting by Alan Charlish, additional reporting by Crispian Balmer in Rome, Editing by William Maclean)

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