Raffaele Fitto (born 28 August 1969) is an Italian politician and a member of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the Legislature, legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven Institutions of the European Union, institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and in ...

. He is serving as the minister of European affairs in the

Meloni Cabinet The Meloni government is the 68th government of the Italian Republic, the first led by the president of Brothers of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, who is also the first woman to hold the office of Prime Minister of Italy. The government was announced on ...

since 2022.

Career

Born in Maglie, Fitto was elected in 1999 at

for

Forza Italia Forza ItaliaThe name is not usually translated into English: ''forza'' is the second-person singular imperative of ''forzare'', in this case translating to "to compel" or "to press", and so means something like "Forward, Italy", "Come on, Ital ...

. On 17 May 2015, Fitto left

and the European People's Party parliamentary group to join the

European Conservatives and Reformists The European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) is a soft Eurosceptic, anti- federalist political group of the European Parliament. The ECR is the parliamentary group of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR Party) European ...

. In 2022 he was appointed to the Meloni government. He was replaced in the European Parliament by Denis Nesci.

Trials

Bribery towards the Italian public health care system

Fitto in 2006 was investigated by the Bari prosecutor in connection with a donation to his regional party ''La Puglia Prima di Tutto'' of 500,000 Euros by Tosinvest, a company owned by Antonio Angelucci, ahead of the 2005 Apulian regional election. According to the prosecution this amount was suspected of being a bribe to secure for the Apulia region the management of eleven nursing homes. A request to arrest Fitto, who in the meantime had become a Member of the Italian Parliament, was rejected by the Italian Chamber of Deputies. Fitto in December 2009 was found guilty of abuse of office, corruption and illegal financing of political parties; Fitto was acquitted of some other charges in June 2012. Fitto in February 2013 was sentenced by the

Court of first instance A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accorda ...

(''Tribunale di Primo Grado'', the first grade) to four years in prison and five years' disqualification from public office; the sentence was commuted to 1 year. Fitto in September 2015 was acquitted of all charges by the Court of second instance (''Corte d'Appello'', the second grade). Fitto in June 2017 was acquitted of all charges by the

Supreme Court of Cassation A court of cassation is a high-instance court that exists in some judicial systems. Courts of cassation do not re-examine the facts of a case, they only interpret the relevant law. In this they are appellate courts of the highest instance. In t ...

(''Corte di Cassazione'', the final grade).

Bankruptcy of Cedis

Fitto in February 2009 was accused of conspiring, during his presidency of the

Apulia it, Pugliese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographic ...

region (2000–2005),

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, to short-sell the trading company "Cedis", at that time (2004–2006) in administration. The charges were filed in April 2009; however in March 2017 Fitto was acquitted of all charges by the Court of second instance (''Corte d'Appello'', the second grade).

References

External links

*
Raffaele Fitto - official website
*
Direzione Italia - official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fitto, Raffaele 1969 births Living people People from Maglie Italian People's Party (1994) politicians United Christian Democrats politicians Forza Italia politicians The People of Freedom politicians Forza Italia (2013) politicians Conservatives and Reformists (Italy) politicians Direction Italy politicians Deputies of Legislature XV of Italy Deputies of Legislature XVI of Italy Deputies of Legislature XVII of Italy Presidents of Apulia MEPs for Italy 1999–2004 MEPs for Italy 2014–2019 MEPs for Italy 2019–2024 Deputies of Legislature XIX of Italy Meloni Cabinet Government ministers of Italy