Pina Picierno

Pina Picierno
MEP
Official portrait, 2024
Vice-President of the European Parliament
Incumbent
Assumed office
18 January 2022
Serving with See List
PresidentRoberta Metsola
Member of the European Parliament for Italy
Incumbent
Assumed office
1 July 2014
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
In office
29 April 2008 – 25 June 2014
Personal details
BornGiuseppina Picierno
(1981-05-10) 10 May 1981
Santa Maria Capua Vetere, Italy
PartySP (since 2026)
EDP (since 2026)
Other political
affiliations
PPI (until 2002)
DL (2002–2007)
PD (2007–2026)
Spouse
Massimiliano Coccia
​
(m. 2023)​
EducationUniversity of Salerno

Giuseppina "Pina" Picierno (Italian pronunciation: [ˈpiːna piˈtʃɛrno]; born 10 May 1981) is an Italian politician. Born in Santa Maria Capua Vetere, she was a member of the Democratic Party who has been serving in the European Parliament since 2014.[1] Since 2022, she has served as vice-president of the European Parliament.

Political career

Career in national politics

Picierno served two terms as a member of the Italian Parliament between 2008 and 2014.[2]

Member of the European Parliament, 2014–present

Picierno was selected to head her party's regional list in the 2014 European elections.[3] In parliament, she is a member of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats group. She served on the Committee on Budgets from 2014 to 2017[4] and currently serves on the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality.[5] In addition to her committee assignments, she served as vice-chairwoman of the parliament's delegation to the EU-Mexico Joint Parliamentary Committee from 2014 to 2019.[4]

Picierno was elected as Vice-President on 18 January 2022.[6]

In June 2026, she left the centre-left Democratic Party because of its leader Elly Schlein's refusal to condemn supporters of dictator Vladimir Putin and the invasion of Ukraine, stating that "you cannot be ambiguous toward Putinist fascism and extremisms."[7][8][9] She also criticized the party for its "movimentista" drift (that is, its rapprochement with the Five Star Movement's positions), and that "the home of the reformists no longer exists."[10]

Shortly after, she joined the European Democratic Party[11] and Renew Europe[12] explaining that she was taking a stand against populists.[13] In Italy, she launched the Public Space party.[14]

Intergroup memberships

Picierno is also a member of the European Parliament Intergroup on Cancer,[15] the European Parliament Intergroup on Fighting against Poverty,[16] the European Parliament Intergroup on Integrity (Transparency, Anti-Corruption and Organized Crime)[17] and of the European Parliament Intergroup on the Western Sahara.[18]

Recognition

In 2019, Picierno was the recipient of the Justice & Gender Equality Award at The Parliament Magazine's annual MEP Awards.[19]

In 2022, she was the recipient of the IAI Award from the Istituto Affari Internazionali "for having firmly supported Ukraine's independence, territorial integrity, freedom and democracy since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine."[20]

Positions

In 2025, Picierno participated in a meeting with the Israel Defence and Security Forum (IDSF), an Israeli think tank supporting settlements in the West Bank. In response to criticism, Picierno stated that "isolating Israel means condemning an entire area to an eternal right-wing sovereigntism", receiving support from other Democratic Party members Filippo Sensi, Simona Malpezzi and Piero Fassino.[21]

Picierno is a key supporter of Ukraine in its war against Russian aggression and has taken a lead role in combatting pro-Russia propaganda. This led to her being the target of repeated death threats and being placed under police protection.[22]

Awards

References

  1. ↑ "Home - Pina PICIERNO - MEPs - European Parliament". www.europarl.europa.eu. 10 May 1981.
  2. ↑ "XVII Legislatura - XVII Legislatura - Deputati e Organi - Scheda deputato - PICIERNO Pina". www.camera.it (in Italian).
  3. ↑ "Pina Picierno: "In Europa al servizio delle comunità del Mezzogiorno" - +ECONOMIA". Archived from the original on 7 November 2014. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  4. 1 2 "8th parliamentary term | Pina PICIERNO | MEPs | European Parliament". Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  5. ↑ "Home | Pina PICIERNO | MEPs | European Parliament". Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  6. ↑ "Parliament's new Vice-Presidents | News | European Parliament". www.europarl.europa.eu. 18 January 2022. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  7. ↑ "Reformism vs. Populism. The Tangled Debate Inside Italy's Democratic Party". Decode39. 4 June 2026. Retrieved 5 June 2026.
  8. ↑ Cerasa, Claudio. "Picierno ci spiega perché lascia il Pd". www.ilfoglio.it (in Italian). Retrieved 5 June 2026.
  9. ↑ Lavia, Mario (4 June 2026). "Contro il bipopulismo | Pina Picierno lascia il Pd e a Bruxelles entra in Renew Europe". Linkiesta.it (in Italian). Retrieved 5 June 2026.
  10. ↑ Mazzantini, Caterina (4 June 2026). "Picerno lascia il PD: "La casa dei riformisti non c'è più"" (in Italian). Retrieved 6 June 2026.
  11. ↑ "Picierno lascia il Pd: «Il partito di Schlein non è più inclusivo»". Il Fatto Quotidiano (in Italian). 4 June 2026. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
  12. ↑ Torchiaro, Aldo (5 June 2026). "Pina Picierno lascia via mail il Pd di Schlein (che non risponde), Calenda e Marattin: "Uniamo le forze". Lei entra in Renew, ora mani libere". Il Riformista (in Italian). Retrieved 14 June 2026.
  13. ↑ Euractiv (26 June 2026). "Why Pina Picierno abandoned the Socialists". Euractiv. Retrieved 27 July 2026.
  14. ↑ Carboni, Stefania (7 June 2026). "Pina Picierno dopo l'addio al Pd: «Conte condiziona molto Elly Schlein». E lancia "Spazio Pubblico"". Open (in Italian). Retrieved 14 June 2026.
  15. ↑ Intergroup European Cancer Patient Coalition (ECPC).
  16. ↑ Intergroup on Fighting against Poverty European Parliament.
  17. ↑ Members of the European Parliament on Integrity (Transparency, Anti-Corruption and Organized Crime) European Parliament.
  18. ↑ Members European Parliament Intergroup on Western Sahara.
  19. ↑ Hutchinson, Lorna (21 March 2019). "MEP Awards 2019: Heartfelt reactions from our winners". The Parliament Magazine. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  20. ↑ "Metsola, Picierno, Tocci: a Bruxelles per il Premio IAI | Istituto Affari Internazionali". www.iai.it (in Italian). Retrieved 5 June 2026.
  21. ↑ "Il caso Picierno spacca il Pd: «Incompatibile con i nostri valori». «No alla gogna»". Il Manifesto (in Italian). 29 March 2025. Retrieved 30 March 2025.
  22. ↑ "Pina Picierno, the Italian MEP threatened by Russia for backing Ukraine". 19 December 2025. Retrieved 5 June 2026.
  23. ↑ "УКАЗ ПРЕЗИДЕНТА УКРАЇНИ №68/2026 Про відзначення державними нагородами України".
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.