Last weekItalyreturned to the helm of the far right for the first time since the end of WWII, when electing Giorgia Meloni, the leader of the Brothers of Italy political party.
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Meloni’s campaign trail gained attention with bombastic comments against migration and in support of national identity, which according to The Nation, had pundits unable to determine whether she is a fascist, a neofascist or a post-fascist.
The return of ‘Italy’s darkest hour?
According to The Guardian, many feared that the election of Meloni means the return of ‘Italy’s darkest hour’. However, experts also say we are not seeing a resurrection of Benito Mussolini’s era, nor his heir in Meloni. Rather, in simple terms, Meloni’s party is serving as a European copycat of the US Republican Party.
Meloni has been in politics now for a considerable time. A former member of Silvio Berlusconi’s party, she left in 2012 to form her own party, the Brothers of Italy. She rejected the quick way to power by refusing to join a unity government formed in 2021 by Mario Draghi, The Guardian reports.
European copycat of the US Republican Party
Politico reports about the support that Meloni has received from overseas, after many US conservatives in the Republican camp rally behind her. According to some Republicans in the US, Meloni's success came about also due to the influence of the policy doctrine promoted by the former US President Trump.Thus, this is a ‘praise that highlights the Trumpification of GOP foreign policy doctrines’.
Meloni's attachments to the conservatives in the US are unusual. According to Politico, she counts Steve Bannon as her ally and has already spoken twice in Republican annual gatherings.
Italy’s example again cements the surge of populist and far right ideologies at the forefront of major democracies worldwide. According to the Daily Mail, US President Joe Biden recently referred to Meloni’s victory as a danger to American democracy.
While Donald Trump, the 45th US President, has recently created a rift between US republicans with his ‘America First’ doctrine, especially when it comes to the Ukraine war. Politico reports that Trump stated doubts about the support that the US is providing to Kyiv, according to him he would stop the financing.
Likewise, Politico reports that Meloni ranks a number of allies in her coalition who traditionally sided with Putin, and also ‘more recently refused to condemn his brutal invasion’.
While Meloni recently tweeted support for President Zelensky, many experts agree that the actions of her government need to be watched more closely before a conclusion could be drawn about where she really stands in the conflict.
Dear @ZelenskyyUa, you know that you can count on our loyal support for the cause of freedom of Ukrainian people. Stay strong and keep your faith steadfast! 🇮🇹🇺🇦
— Giorgia Meloni 🇮🇹 ن (@GiorgiaMeloni) September 27, 2022
By and large, Meloni, like Donald Trump, has succeeded to turn the far right and populism from an outsider view of the slim minority to the mainstream and a ‘tenacious insider’, The Guardian reports.
Sources used:
- The Nation: ‘Fascists, Neofascists, and Postfascists: Italy’s Unreal Election Debate’
- The Guardian: ‘Italy’s Giorgia Meloni is no Mussolini – but she may be a Trump’
- Politico: ‘‘Reason to worry’: Italy's Meloni holds a mirror to Trump's GOP’
- Daily Mail: ‘Biden says Giorgia Meloni's victory in Italy is a WARNING for American democracy: Tells Democrats they can't be optimistic about the trajectory of the country’
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