Did Italy Just elect a Fascist as Prime Minister?
Italian national elections deliver a new government led by conservative Giorgia Meloni, sparking transatlantic controversy.
New Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni
Italian national elections delivered a decisive victory to conservatives led by Giorgia Meloni. She was immediately pilloried by EU leaders and the mainstream American press for being “far right.” Some even claimed she is a fascist.
Her domestic politics aside, Meloni’s foreign policy will top question for many. The Italian left is usually soft on China. The right is predictably weak on Russia. So what can we expect?
We asked a real expert. Dan Kochis is one of the leading analysts of European affairs. Before the elections, he wrote a detailed assessment of Meloni. We highlight some of his main points here.
Why is everyone so worried? For much of Europe—certainly for EU bureaucrats and for the Biden administration—jumping from the known administration of independent Mario Draghi to the unpredictable possibility of a Meloni coalition is cause for much consternation. EU leaders have already expressed reservations, derisively comparing a future government to Poland and Hungary.
What kind of conservative is she? Meloni appears to be conservative but not radically so. She has proposed measures like free nurseries to aid the Italian birth rate, echoing the state social support programs of places such as Hungary, but she has also railed against progressive social policies. She has frequently described herself as a woman, an Italian and a Christian. (Hear some of her remarks on family.)
What about her party? The origins of the party, the Brothers of Italy (FdI), are no doubt concerning, yet the company FdI currently keeps is essentially mainstream conservative. FdI is a member of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group in the EU Parliament, which includes other conservative political parties such as Poland’s Law and Justice Party, Spain’s Vox parties and formerly the U.K. Conservative Party. These parties are sometimes lazily portrayed in the mainstream media as far right, but this is an unfair caricature. There are certainly radical far-right parties in Europe, but these parties are not among them.
How will she govern? The new government will have no easy time. Polling shows that Italian voters are increasingly pessimistic about the future, concerned in particular about inflation and rising energy costs. Meloni will have to focus on bread-and-butter issue. Indeed, Meloni will face immediate challenges—the need to pass a new budget, curb inflation, and securing new energy supplies
What’s the bottom line? Meloni could be a strong partner for the U.S. and the transatlantic community. In fact, a Meloni-led government might take positions that stand up to both China and Russia. She recently stated that Italy under her leadership would not be the “weak link” in the transatlantic alliance and that “Ukraine . . . is the tip of the iceberg of a conflict whose objective is the revision of the world order.”
What Dan suggests is that a Meloni-led government will be far from radical. Even her political opponents dismissed attacks against her as “fake news.” Domestic politics aside, obviously her victory has implications far beyond Italy’s borders. A transatlanticist approach from the Italian right would be welcomed for many in Washington, but for Meloni, it will be difficult to get her coalition partners to agree to such an arrangement long term. Engagement from American conservatives could be an important bridge and asset for strengthening bilateral ties and joint action.