Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed admiration for the historic result achieved by the National Rally in the first round of the French legislative elections. On Monday, Meloni said that demonizing the far right was no longer an effective strategy.
The rise of the far right in Europe
Meloni, who heads the Fratelli d’Italia party, told the Adnkronos agency that “the ongoing attempt to demonize those who do not vote left… is a trap that fewer and fewer people are falling into.” She added that this trend is increasingly visible not only in Italy, but also in Europe and throughout the West.
As leader of the Italian government since October 2022, Meloni consolidated his position in the European elections by obtaining 28% of the vote. His government is in coalition with the conservative Forza Italia party, founded by Silvio Berlusconi, and the League, an anti-immigration party led by Matteo Salvini.
An optimistic vision for Europe
Meloni stressed her desire to see the old divisions in Europe between alternative forces to the left disappear. “We have always wanted to remove the old barriers in Europe between alternative forces to the left, and it seems that in France too we are moving in that direction,” she said.
As for the second round of the French elections, Meloni noted that the scenario is very polarized. When asked whether she preferred the left, sometimes extreme, or the right, she replied: “Of course, I prefer the right.”
A stabilized European and international policy
In Italy, Meloni’s party refuses to be called far-right, considering itself simply a right-wing party. Meloni sees positively the arrival in power of a friendly government in another founding country of the European Union, which could break the isolation of his country on the European scene, especially with regard to the distribution of “key positions” in Brussels.
Despite initial concerns from his European partners about Italy’s continued commitment to the EU and NATO, Meloni has managed to reassure them by showing strong support for Ukraine and adopting an economic policy aligned with that of his predecessor, Mario Draghi, a former president of the European Central Bank.
