The leader of the far-right party, George Meloni, has become Italy’s new prime minister. Experts do not rule out that her victory marks a further weakening of unity EU.
On Sunday, Italians voted in the first general election since 2018 to elect the first ever female prime minister. Previously, Meloni spoke in support of Putin. The result marks a turning point for Italy, a country whose previous government of national unity was led by Mario Draghi, who spoke out strongly against the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Newsweek.
The post-fascist roots of the “Brothers of Italy” make Meloni the first post-fascist politician to head the state since the Second World War. Although she advocated sending military aid to Ukraine, she also defended Russia as part of the European value system.
“Given the current political environment, this is the best result the Kremlin could have hoped for,” Eleonora Tafuro, a research fellow at the Italian Institute for International Political Studies (Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale, ISPI), told Newsweek.
Tafuro explained that Russia has long regarded Italy as one of the friendliest countries in the increasingly hostile bloc, largely due to Italy’s desire to play a “middleman” role and do business with a major energy supplier.
Under Draghi, friendships weren’t as obvious, but Meloni’s victory could mark the return of an Italy more willing to compromise on Russia, Tafuro said.
Meloni’s attraction, from Putin’s point of view, she says, is that she positions herself as the protector of “Italian interests” that are suffering from conflict fatigue and the resulting surge in energy prices.
“Putin sees this and considers Meloni the best option for bad political relations with Italy for two reasons,” she said.
While Meloni has taken a more centrist stance and denounced the conflict in Ukraine in an effort to ingratiate herself with the voters, her political partners Silvio Berlusconi and Matteo Salvini have been even less aggressive in their criticism. If the Brothers of Italy party, led by Meloni, wins a majority in both houses of parliament, it is likely that it will seek an adjustment to the European Union recovery fund program – and use Ukraine’s public support for this.
University of New Hampshire political science professor Lawrence C. Reardon said that if Meloni fails to convince Brussels to lower Italy’s year-end economic ambitions, “Putin and his Internet trolls will no doubt try to escalate the situation to divide the EU and its economic sanctions against Russia. The Kremlin may even consider offering Meloni a discount on Russian oil this coming winter, he said.
Greek reaction
Greek media note that Melonni was the first to be congratulated by her political colleague, Hungarian President Orban, after which congratulations began to come from other leaders of the European Union and the world. But K.Mitsotakis is waiting and has not yet sent a congratulatory telegram to an ally neighboring country with Greece.
🇮🇹👏Congratulations @GiorgiaMeloni, @matteosalvinimi, @berlusconi on the elections today! In these difficult times, we need more than ever friends who share a common vision and approach to Europe’s challenges.
🇭🇺🤝🇮🇹Long live the Hungarian-Italian friendship! pic.twitter.com/4PN2ZDEJoZ
— Balazs Orban (@BalazsOrban_HU) September 25, 2022
“To sweeten the pill,” the pro-government media on Petsas’s list name those who were recently called “center-right”, “post-fascists” or “extreme right”. From the very first moment, her resounding victory became the main trend on Twitter, and her ardent followers from Greece threw a party on social networks.
Μην ενοχλείτε. Όλο το βράδυ μπεκρούλιαζε γιά να αντέξει τα αποτελέσματα.
Ξέρει όμως να διαλέγει το κατάλληλο κρασί γιά την ανάλογη περίσταση.#κολαζ #ιταλικες_εκλογες #Ιταλία #Ουρσουλα #Μελονι pic.twitter.com/c4NmxAnFAt
— aftolykos 🇬🇷 (@aftolykos1) September 26, 2022
Do not disturb. She drank all night to get the right results. But she knows how to choose the right wine for the right occasion.
το πεπόνι παγώνει
καιη #Ιταλια #Μελονι pic.twitter.com/RIXxQFFwng— 🐺Dimitris🐺 (@DRagnar1991) September 26, 2022
τα κανάλια λένε πως η #Μελονι είναι κεντροδεξιά #Ιταλια #ιταλικες_εκλογες pic.twitter.com/nFXLbiRiKf
— kapoios kapoios (@kapoioskapoios2) September 26, 2022
channels say #Μελονι is center right
#Italy right now #ItalianElections #ElezioniPolitiche2022 pic.twitter.com/0xeibrkGcf
— Maresciallo Yazov 🇮🇹🧱 (@punisheditalian) September 25, 2022
Elected in a democracy:
👈🏻 elected
👉🏻 not elected #Italy #ItalianElections pic.twitter.com/byFM5AmA5r— Superunknown Esq. 🇳🇴 📎 (@superunknowner) September 26, 2022
Democratic choice – elected on the left, unelected on the right
Τα φίδια στον κόρφο μας τρέφεται εσείς στο #kolosogo #νδ_απατεώνες #νδ_μαφία #τι_ψηφίσατε_ρε_μαλάκες #μητσοτακη_κάθαρμα #μητσοτακη_παραιτησου pic.twitter.com/3Bvm5NWICW
— Κωστοπουλο Γεώργιο (@giokwsto13) September 26, 2022
Υπάρχει ανησυχία σε ολόκληρη την Ευρώπη για την εκλογή της κ. Μελόνι διότι δε γνωρίζουμε τι θα εκπροσωπήσει τελικά. Είναι επικεφαλής ενός συνασπισμού οι δύο από τους τρεις τοποθετηθεί με με με με σαφήνεια φιλορωσικά. Η ίδια δηλώνει ότι είναι απέναντι. 1/2 #SkyRadio
— Ντόρα Μπακογιάννη (@Dora_Bakoyannis) September 26, 2022
There are fears in Europe about the election of Ms. Meloni because we do not know what she will represent in the end. She leads a coalition that two out of three describe as clearly pro-Russian. She herself says that she is against it.
Τα φίδια στον κόρφο μας τρέφεται εσείς στο #kolosogo #νδ_απατεώνες #νδ_μαφία #τι_ψηφίσατε_ρε_μαλάκες #μητσοτακη_κάθαρμα #μητσοτακη_παραιτησου pic.twitter.com/3Bvm5NWICW
— Κωστοπουλο Γεώργιο (@giokwsto13) September 26, 2022
The snakes on our chest that we feed…
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