Giorgia Meloni, the leader of the far-right party, Brothers of Italy (FdI), is on course to become the country’s first woman prime minister.
In Italy and across Europe there are fears of a return to fascism. Meloni, who strongly defends the traditional family structure, opposes same-sex marriage and abortion, is in favour of anti-Islamic and strict policies on immigration.
In the early elections to be held on 25 September, the right-wing bloc formed by the far-right “League” led by the far-right-leaning Matteo Salvini, the “Forza Italia” (Forza Italia) led by Silvio Berlusconi and the Brothers of Italy (FdI) is expected to come first with around 45 percent of the votes in the elections on 25 September, according to the polls.
Giorgia Meloni, the leader of the radical right-wing Brothers of Italy party, which is expected to receive the highest vote with nearly 25 per cent, is considered to be highly likely to be the first woman prime minister of Italy.
Family, religion, nation
According to an analysis by BBC Turkish Italy correspondent Övgü Pınar, Meloni places at the centre of his rhetoric what she calls “traditional values” such as the heterosexual family of parents and children, Christianity and nationalism against globalization.
She is known to be close to Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban, former US President Donald Trump and the far-right Vox party in Spain. In June, the Italian leader attended Vox’s congress in Spain, where she summarized their common priorities in her speech as follows:
“Yes to the natural family, no to the LGBT lobby! Yes to the universality of the cross, no to Islamist violence! Yes to secure borders, no to mass immigration! Yes to popular sovereignty, no to Brussels bureaucrats! Yes to our civilisation, no to those who want to destroy it!”
FdI, led by Meloni, has a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to illegal immigration and wants to renegotiate EU treaties in this regard. The Brothers of Italy, described as ‘post-fascist’, draws attention to illegal immigrants and voices the ‘Islamisation of Europe.’
Footsteps of fascism?
Born in Garbatella, a working-class neighbourhood in Rome, Giorgia Meloni entered politics at the age of 15, joining the youth branch of the neo-fascist Italian Social Movement (MSI). Then, at the age of 21, she ran in local elections in Rome and in 2006 in parliament for the National Alliance (AN), a continuation of the MSI.
In 2008 she served as Minister of Youth in the Berlusconi government. In 2012 she was among the founders of the Brothers of Italy party. Although Meloni and her party deny allegations of fascism, the party’s logo features a fire in the colours of the Italian flag, the symbol of the neo-fascist MSI, inspired by the grave of fascist leader Benito Mussolini.
“Meloni doesn’t want to give up the symbol because it’s her identity that she can’t escape,” says Gianluca Passarelli, professor of political science at Sapienza University, emphasising a change of strategy: “Her party is not fascist. Fascism means seizing power and overthrowing the system. It doesn’t do that, it can’t do that. But there are sections in the party linked to the neo-fascist movement. It has always played to the balance somehow.”
The party, which has ambitions to bring up a prime minister, aims to position itself from the extreme ends of the political spectrum towards the “centre-right”. Meloni says: “They will accuse me of being a fascist all my life. But I don’t care because Italians don’t believe in this nonsense anymore.”
Journalist Alba Sidera, who has been analysing right-wing movements in Italy for many years, assesses Meloni’s rise as follows: “The fact that Meloni has made it this far in Italy is thanks to those who glamorise her. From the media, which insists on calling Salvini and Meloni centre-right, to Berlusconi and Grillini, who brought them to power and to the disoriented centre-left, which underestimates and legitimizes them. Meloni didn’t appear out of nowhere. She has been preparing to become prime minister for years.”
How does she view Turkey?
According to an analysis by Serbestiyet columnist Yunus Emre Erdölen, Meloni makes harsh criticisms on Twitter every time an Italian minister or prime minister visits Turkey. For example, she previously criticised the conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque, saying “Erdoğan has completed the transformation of Turkey into an Islamic sultanate. This move proves that nothing can come close to the splendour of the basilica built 1500 years ago by the Christian Constantinople.”
Meloni defends the migrant deal with Turkey, but also says that for it to be implemented well, the borders must be strictly guarded and migrants must be physically dealt with. She is not only opposed to EU membership, but she often stresses that even Turkey’s EU candidacy status should be cancelled. Meloni also targets Italian companies that manufacture and build factories in Turkey. She targets these companies and names them in her television programmes. She says that Italy will be Islamised if Europe and Turkey establish close relations.