When in mid-August the far-right Giorgia Meloni (Rome, 1977), the Italian politician best positioned to win the general elections of the next September 25thstated, in a recorded message, that the fascism is “history for decades” and presented himself as a victim of the “powerful left-wing media circuit”, the progressive daily The Republic He didn’t take long to respond. A few days later, she broadcast an old interview in which a very young Meloni praises the dictator Benito Mussolini. “Like him there has been no other in the last 50 years,” she says.
For Mattia Diletti, Professor of Politics at La Sapienza University in Rome, it was not a big surprise. Meloni plays On the defensive since 30 years ago. He knows what he has to say,” says Diletti. The problem is that, even now, “this effort to convey the message that fascism is a dead letter is done while maintaining a certain ambiguity (that) avoids denying that heritage completely,” adds when speaking of the leader of Brothers from Italy. A party in which, according to this analyst, “there are still nostalgics” and is heir to the post-fascist Italian Social Movementwhose historic tricolor flame has also been confirmed by Meloni as the logo that “proudly” will continue to represent his party in the upcoming elections.
Indeed, since the fall of mario draghi (who resigned in July after a sudden government crisis, which led the country to early elections), Meloni was quick to seal a alliance with the sovereignist and populist League of Matteo Salvini and the center right forza italy of Silvio Berlusconi. Subsequently, the head of the Brothers of Italy has kept a low profile in these weeks, presenting herself as an affable person and even making an effort to send messages of detente to Italy’s European and international allies. A figure, in short, that does not want to transmit fear. But even so, several analysts have seen these maneuvers as mere strategies to win the elections.
Harsh criticism of the EU
The reason is that, for years, Meloni – like Salvini – has torpedoed the European Union (EU). In 2018, the ultra leader even signed a bill to remove from the Italian Constitution the links arising from the obligations arising from community law. She has also avoided participating – the last time, this year – in the acts of the April 25ththe anniversary of Italy’s liberation from fascism, while militants and leaders of his party have repeatedly caused a stir by appearing in photographs doing the fascist salute.
Despite this, in the political program of his coalition for the next elections, the effort to homologate himself before the EU as a pro-European force capable of governing Italy has been evident. Even the tone has been different. “Italy (is) a full part of Europe, of the Atlantic Alliance and of the West”, has written, in the first point of its agenda, the group headed by Meloni, who, according to the polls, could harvest alone between 22% and 24%, surpassing Salvini and also the progressives of the Democratic party (P.S).
The objective is to present himself as “a valid option” to assume command of Italy, agrees the political scientist Pasquale Pasquino, professor emeritus at the University of Bologna. All in all, “if Meloni and Salvini win the elections, confrontations with the EU are practically guaranteed as soon as some sensitive issues such as the high public debt Italian or the immigration“, affirms this expert, in statements to EL PERIÓDICO.
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In fact, some of these frictions are already visible. The right-wing bloc has called for “a review” of the EU’s Stability Pact and economic governance, while both Salvini and Meloni have announced a toughening of the country’s migration policy. Furthermore, on the domestic front, they have proposed turning Italy into a regime presidentialist -in which the executive power would remain in the hands of the President of the Republic-, which has raised concern among his center-left rivals.
It is not the only fear, inside and outside Italy. “A separate matter is that Meloni is clearly an Atlanticist and has cultivated a good relationship with the US Republicans for years, while Salvini has maintained a more ambiguous relationship with Russia and the war in ukraine. These are discrepancies that will be noticed,” warns Pasquino. Furthermore, the problem there is also Meloni’s European partners. “For example, it is vox in Spain, and (Prime Minister Víktor) Orbán in Hungary,” says this expert, suggesting that an eventual electoral victory for the Italian right-wing bloc could also strengthen the most radical European nationalists.