Francesca Donato (born 25 August 1969 in

Ancona Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic S ...

) is an Italian politician who was elected as a member of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, as a member of the party

Lega Nord Lega Nord (; acronym: LN), whose complete name is (), is a right-wing, federalist, populist and conservative political party in Italy. In the run-up of the 2018 general election, the party was rebranded as (), without changing its official n ...

European Parliament

She was part of the group

Identity and Democracy Identity and Democracy (french: link=no, Identité et démocratie, ID) is a right-wing to far-right political group of the European Parliament, launched on 13 June 2019 for the Ninth European Parliament term. It is composed of nationalist, ...

at the

. Due to her position against the

EU Digital COVID Certificate The EU Digital COVID Certificate (EUDCC), known in Italy as the Green Pass, and in France as the Sanitary Pass or Health Pass (''passe sanitaire''), was a COVID-19 vaccine passport created by the European Union (EU), that is valid in all Member ...

in September 2021, she was expelled both from Lega Nord and the Identity and Democracy group, and became an independent as well as the

non-inscrit Non-Inscrits (; abbreviated NI; also non-attached members, abbreviated NA) are Member of the European Parliament, Members of the European Parliament (MEP) who do not belong to one of the recognised Political groups of the European Parliament, p ...

member of the EP. On 2 March 2022, she voted against condemning the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

along with 12 other MEPs. After sharing news which were identified as

fake news Fake news is false or misleading information presented as news. Fake news often has the aim of damaging the reputation of a person or entity, or making money through advertising revenue.Schlesinger, Robert (April 14, 2017)"Fake news in reality ...

, her Facebook page was closed in March 2022. Donato voted against the European Parliament resolution of 23 November 2022 on recognising the Russian Federation as a state sponsor of terrorism.

References

External links

Home , Francesca DONATO , MEPs , European Parliament
1969 births Living people MEPs for Italy 2019–2024 21st-century women MEPs for Italy Lega Nord MEPs People from Ancona {{Italy-MEP-stub