# Ukraine and the left’s primaries Source URL: https://polimeme.com/discussion/thread_fe670cee96c75519 First seen: 2026-08-13 23:59 UTC · Latest activity: 2026-08-13 02:45 UTC 13 core pieces, 4 related pieces ## Summary Italian centre-left parties are deciding whether primaries should settle only leadership or also fix a line on Ukraine, sanctions, and rearmament. Giuseppe Conte’s ambiguity helps him keep room to move, while critics say it weakens the coalition and rewards Moscow. ## Core contention Should the left lock in its Ukraine and rearmament line before the primaries, or leave it open until after the leadership vote? ## Argument map 1. Keep the line open: primaries should choose leaders, while Ukraine, sanctions, and aid need a mixed stance that avoids a binary vote. — Mario Giro (Domani), Luca Bottura (Domani), La Stampa 2. Tighten support for Kyiv: Conte’s softer line looks like electoral camouflage, weakens European defense, and rewards Russian aggression. — Mario Lavia (Linkiesta), Guido Vitiello (Il Foglio), La Repubblica, Stefano Feltri (Appunti), Massimiliano Panarari (La Stampa), Stefano Feltri (Appunti) 3. Avoid a direct Schlein-Conte clash: a head-to-head in the primaries can turn disagreement into a public rupture that hurts coalition cohesion. — Paolo Mieli (Corriere della Sera), Antonio Bompani (Linkiesta), Mario Lavia (Linkiesta) ## Fault line The split runs between treating primaries as a mandate on foreign policy or as a leadership contest only, and between ambiguity as unity or evasion. ## New element The dispute has not moved; recent items repeat the same split over Ukraine, with a sharper warning that the primary format itself can force a damaging Schlein-Conte showdown. ## European relevance Italy’s choice touches EU support for Ukraine, sanctions discipline, and the political cost of rearmament across centre-left parties. ## Distinct theses in this debate - The author argues that softening support for Ukraine is cynical, electorally motivated, and strategically harmful because it rewards Russian aggression. - A coalition's internal disagreement on Ukraine is politically consequential in both blocs, but only the center-left's primary mechanism makes the rupture public, whereas the center-right's leadership structure keeps it subdued. - Rigid pro-war or pro-rearmament moralism is politically imprudent; the left should keep an open, composite debate and avoid asking voters to decide a simplistic binary on an unresolved international conflict. - Primaries are being used as a mathematical illusion of democracy to consolidate a pro-Russia line and weaken the center-left’s leadership coherence. - Conte and the campo largo are being treated as a stage act: their vagueness on Ukraine is politically unserious and performative. - Primaries are likely to become destructive unless the PD helps Conte avoid a head-to-head with Schlein. - Conte’s position is not a useful strategic dissent but a self-defeating stance that fragments the left and benefits Meloni’s bloc. ## Pieces - 2026-08-10 18:46 UTC — [Il dilemma su riarmo e pace non si scioglie alle primarie](https://www.editorialedomani.it/idee/commenti/riarmo-pace-dilemma-non-si-scioglie-primarie-centrosinistra-jyg2j0tz) — Mario Giro (Domani) [it] - 2026-08-13 02:45 UTC — [Il campo Lavrov sacrifica la difesa dell’Ucraina e dell’Europa alla ricerca del consenso](https://www.linkiesta.it/2026/08/campo-largo-lavrov-ucraina-conte-elezioni-schlein) — Mario Lavia (Linkiesta) [it] - 2026-08-03 18:48 UTC — [Affondo e scossa al Campo Largo](https://www.corriere.it/opinioni/26_agosto_03/affondo-e-scossa-al-campo-largo-cdabd023-de25-428f-aef0-b805e828axlk.shtml) — Paolo Mieli (Corriere della Sera) [it] - 2026-08-05 04:00 UTC — [Tutto il mondo è un palcoscenico, e tutto il campo largo è un gazebo](https://www.ilfoglio.it/rubriche/il-bi-e-il-ba/2026/08/05/news/tutto-il-mondo-e-un-palcoscenico-e-tutto-il-campo-largo-e-un-gazebo--404009) — Guido Vitiello (Il Foglio) [it] - 2026-08-10 02:45 UTC — [Le primarie svelano la frattura sull’Ucraina che il centrodestra non è costretto a mostrare](https://www.linkiesta.it/2026/08/ucraina-divide-coalizioni-lega-m5s) — Antonio Bompani (Linkiesta) [it] - 2026-08-05 12:00 UTC — [Conte e il partito unico filorusso. Primarie, illusione matematica](https://www.repubblica.it/rubriche/le-lettere/2026/08/05/news/lettere_francesco_merlo_mercoledi_5_agosto_2026-425512156) — La Repubblica [it] - 2026-08-03 14:14 UTC — [La guerra immaginaria di Conte](https://appunti.substack.com/p/la-guerra-immaginaria-di-conte) — Stefano Feltri (Appunti) [it] - 2026-08-11 02:45 UTC — [L’amico di Trump spiega che Conte non è di sinistra, chissà quando lo capirà la sinistra](https://www.linkiesta.it/2026/08/conte-sinistra-trump-campo-zampolli) — Mario Lavia (Linkiesta) [it] - 2026-08-05 18:42 UTC — [Caro Giuseppe Conte, torni a essere il Conte bis](https://www.editorialedomani.it/idee/commenti/caro-giuseppe-conte-torni-a-essere-il-conte-bis-d3xu7o88) — Luca Bottura (Domani) [it] - 2026-08-04 12:00 UTC — [Conte, Schlein e il nodo Ucraina nel campo largo](https://www.lastampa.it/rubriche/l-oblo/2026/08/04/audio/conte_schlein_e_il_nodo_ucraina_nel_campo_largo-15706803) — La Stampa [it] - 2026-08-03 23:00 UTC — [Il camaleontismo di Conte e il Pd balneare di Schlein](https://www.lastampa.it/editoriali/lettere-e-idee/2026/08/04/news/il_camaleontismo_di_conte_e_il_pd_balneare_di_schlein-15706725) — Massimiliano Panarari (La Stampa) [it] - 2026-08-15 02:45 UTC — [La premier ha costruito la trappola perfetta per Schlein e Conte](https://www.linkiesta.it/2026/08/meloni-trappola-campo-largo-legge-elettorale) — Mario Lavia (Linkiesta) [it] - 2026-08-09 13:30 UTC — [Best of Appunti - La guerra immaginaria di Conte](https://appunti.substack.com/p/best-of-appunti-la-guerra-immaginaria) — Stefano Feltri (Appunti) [it] ### Related - 2026-08-04 12:00 UTC — [Conte, Schlein e il nodo Ucraina nel campo largo](https://www.lastampa.it/rubriche/l-oblo/2026/08/04/audio/conte_schlein_e_il_nodo_ucraina_nel_campo_largo-15706803) — La Stampa [it] - 2026-08-09 13:30 UTC — [Best of Appunti - La guerra immaginaria di Conte](https://appunti.substack.com/p/best-of-appunti-la-guerra-immaginaria) — Stefano Feltri (Appunti) [it] - 2026-08-14 17:28 UTC — [Le primarie del campo largo e l’esperienza dell’Ulivo](https://www.editorialedomani.it/idee/commenti/primarie-campo-largo-ulivo-conte-schlein-ucraina-mdhzmzti) — Franco Monaco (Domani) [it] - 2026-08-11 02:45 UTC — [L’amico di Trump spiega che Conte non è di sinistra, chissà quando lo capirà la sinistra](https://www.linkiesta.it/2026/08/conte-sinistra-trump-campo-zampolli) — Mario Lavia (Linkiesta) [it]