There is mystery about the actual contents of the meeting that took place il 26 November in Brussels between the financier George Soros e Frans Timmermans, first vice-president of the European Commission, as well as deputy of Jean-Claude Juncker. The topic of the meeting was Italy and the economic maneuver of the yellow-green government? “I cannot confirm or deny that the topic of Italy's budget has been discussed” replied Natasha Bertaud at the time, spokesperson of the European Commission, to a journalist who asked if the Italian maneuver had also been discussed in the conversation. “European and global issues were discussed”.
On that occasion, However, Soros would have received a firm "no" from the vice president of the Commission: the rejection of the Italian maneuver would have opened a dramatic financial crisis, with repercussions throughout Europe, which they would also touch Germany and France. A risk that no one could afford to take. An indiscretion which - if confirmed - is destined to spark further controversy on the controversial figure of the Hungarian-born tycoon.
The precedent told by Mario Monti
The backstory – to be verified – told by Italy Today it has a very important precedent and concerns the former prime minister Mario Monti. These are the years of the high spread and the senator for life has recently succeeded the Berlusconi government. “Soros called me suggesting that I ask Europe for help – revealed the former prime minister – but we wanted to avoid letting the troika in and we didn't follow that advice. But Soros was very worried about the Italian situation". An unusual phone call, told last November on live TV by Monti himself, hosted by Lily Gruber.
What is clear is that George Soros has an excellent relationship with Timmermans, and the two had also officially met in April last year. The details of their meetings, but, they remained largely secret. As reported Brussels Times, asked by a journalist, Timmermans' spokesperson reported that the two "have known each other for many years" and that in the meeting last April "they discussed issues of broad relevance for the European Union" such as, for example, “keeping the EU member states united”.
The friendship between Timmermans and George Soros
Timmermans confirmed to the Belgian newspaper that he had been in regular contact with George Soros and theOpen Society Foundations in the last ones 20 years. “I saw it firsthand, in many different places, what his commitment and contribution have done to help countries shed their totalitarian and communist past and build a society based on the same values enjoyed by those who were fortunate enough to live on this side of the Iron Curtain after the Second World War or were fortunate enough to free themselves from dictatorship”, Timmermans noted, making no secret of his closeness to the financier. “I have no doubt that his commitment to freedom, democracy and the development of open societies with equal rights for all citizens is genuine and honest", Juncker's deputy said.
On the meeting at the end of November, the Five Star Movement, on the initiative of the MEP Isabella Adinolfi, submitted a question: “We have forwarded a question to the European Commission to make public the contents of the meeting between the first vice-president of the Commission Frans Timmermans and George Soros, which as reported by the Commission itself, would have been held last 26 November".
“For us, transparency is a fundamental value. Here's why Timmermans, who is also the Spitzenkandidat of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats group, should declare whether he has received funding from Soros' Open Society Foundations in the past. We ask that this transparency also be extended to funding for the next European election campaign", concludes Adinolfi.
