For the First Time Since WWII, Italy's Far Right Are Seizing Power

On September 25, Italy's foreign ministry said it had recorded a low turnout in the election of a new parliament amid the victory of the far-right leading the results and taking over as prime minister, a precedent in the country.

With the Brothers of Italy party (Fratelli d'Italia) of neo-fascists expected to give about a quarter of the intentions of the vote according to recent polls, its leader Georgia Meloni, 45, is likely to head a coalition government in which the far-right dominates at the expense of the traditionalist right.

It would be a real earthquake in Italy, one of Europe's founding countries and the eurozone's third economic power, but also in the European Union, which will have to deal with politics close to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

Leaders of major political parties did everything they could on Friday in their latest attempts to attract voters during their last election rallies ahead of the electoral silence, which began Friday at 10 p.m. GMT and continues until polls close on Sunday evening.

In Naples, Georgia Meloni, leader of the fascist-rooted Brothers of Italy party, which holds about 25 percent of voting intentions according to the latest polls, said, "I am a nationalist!"

In the media, its ally, the leader of the anti-immigration League party, Matteo Salvini, was dominant, demanding "apologies or the resignation" of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen after she threatened, on Thursday, United States sanctions against Italy if it violated the democratic principles of the European Union.

The right-wing bloc of the Brothers of Italy, the League (Lega), and Forza Italia is expected to receive 41 to 45 percent of the vote, enough to ensure control of both houses of parliament.

If confirmed, Meloni will become the first woman to reach the post of prime minister and the first far-right figure to head the country's government since World War II.

 

Right Agenda

The most important sermon delivered by Meloni dates back to 2019. This sermon resonated not only in her country but on the European continent. At that time, Meloni strongly defended family and catholic values, in addition to her pledge to prevent Europe from becoming a Muslim continent.

In that sermon, Meloni made it clear that her party was opposed to all forms of racism and anti-Semitism.

On the issue of immigration and asylum, from the 2019 sermon until the eve of the start of the elections, Meloni did not change her mind on this file, "Stop illegal migrants," asserts the most likely candidate for the presidency of the government.

Despite the importance of all the files and papers that Meloni has been dealing with since 2019, a new topic has imposed its weight on all the "issues of the continent," the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, the statements of the Italian politician are still identified with the European family in categorical rejection of what the Russian army has done.

But the fears that Rome will move away from Brussels towards Moscow in the face of Meloni's arrival as prime minister are legitimate, as on September 22 the Russian Embassy in Italy began publishing pictures of Meloni.

Large segments of Europeans fear the right of the closest candidate for prime minister, Georgia Meloni, where the European right is now suspicious for its relationship with the Kremlin. Other voices say let us see if Georgia Meloni is Italy's Margaret Thatcher.

 

Political Shift

Viktor Orban, who in recent years has crushed the opposition in Hungary and attained legitimacy by weaponizing popular consensus, stands as Meloni's moral and financial inspiration.

Although he gave the Hungarians a fleeting sense of security, they paid a heavy price for it in the form of economic instability and, most importantly, the loss of their liberties.

Throughout the European Union's condemnation of the Hungarian dictator, MEPs from the far-right Brothers of Italy and the populist League of Italy voted in favor of Orban.

Meloni has never shied away from working closely with Orban and his allies to advance their shared objective of fortifying the European far right under the pretext of defending the natural family, Christian identity, and the social market economy.

Because of her vagueness more than her explicit comparisons to fascism or the tactics of the Blackshirts Militia (Squadristi), Meloni seems to be the most dangerous political figure in Italy today.

She supported a democratic, liberal-conservative side during the election campaign. She has been outspoken in her opposition to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and her support for NATO and military assistance to Kyiv.

But after Russia invaded Crimea in 2014, she was against sanctions on that country. She also stated that Putin's Russia "defends European ideals and Christian identity" in her 2021 book Io sono Giorgia. Le mie radici le mie idee (I am Giorgia: My roots, my ideas).

Moreover, in 2018, when Vladimir Putin won a fourth term as president of Russia, certain right-wing figures in Italy were ready to express their congratulations, including Meloni's party.

"The will of the people in these Russian elections is unequivocal," Giorgia Meloni, the head of the Brothers of Italy party, said on social media at the time.

At a time when Europe is doing everything it can to stop the invasion of Ukraine, the possibility of a coalition with parties that have historically had favorable relations with Russia is raising concerns that Rome may move closer to Moscow.

Democratic Party leader Enrico Letta, who represents the center-left, presented himself as a candidate battling "for an Italy that will be in the heart of Europe."

"Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, and Viktor Orban in Europe would be the people who would be happiest if Giorgia Meloni won," according to Letta.