Only two weeks after Sweden's Social Democratic Prime Minister, Magdalena Andersson, conceded defeat as a Far-Right party which began as part of the Neo-Nazi movement in the 80s rose to prominence in a Right Wing coalition, Italy's next Prime Minister (based on current exit polls) is poised to be Giorgia Meloni, the leader of the Brothers of Italy, whose roots lie in Italy's fascist Italian Social Movement (MSI). Meloni joined the pro-Mussolini MSI at the age of 17, later co-founding a party-- National Alliance-- with other MSI members. In 2012, after cutting her teeth working with well known Right Wing populists like Matteo Salvini and Burlosconi ( both of whom are part of her new Right coalition) , she started her own party, Brothers of Italy (FDl) which, after today's general election, will now form a coalition government that she will lead as PM
She has tried hard to sell herself and her party as "moderate conservatives," likening them to Tories in one speech. But that's false advertising. Here is a clip of a short speech from only a few years ago (December of 2018) well worth watching, as she will soon be PM of an important Western European economy (Europe's 3rd largest) and a G7 country. In this short clip of her addressing her peers in Parliament, the topic is UN and EU policies regarding migrants, especially refugees from the global south. But she speaks with similar vitriol and self-righteous anger on a variety of topics including European identity, traditional family, the "perversions" of the "LGBT Lobby," abortions, atheism and loss of Christian identity et al. The common thread is that Europe and Italy are in political, social and cultural decline due to the rootless cosmopolitans, global elites, evil agents of George Soros, etc. This being the case, the evil and decadence must be decisively beaten back, and "real European-ness" asserted as basis for civilizational greatness for Italy, just as, in her mind, Orban is doing for Hungary and Kaczynski for Poland (among others). At about the 3 minute mark in the vid, she states that the EU and UN "have used illegal immigration in recent decades to complete the Grand Plan of financial speculation to deprive nations and people of their identity. Because without roots you're a slave, and when you're a slave you serve the interests of Soros." Note the anger she channels on behalf of her many devoted followers as she says this. It is a nod to both replacement theory, Soros conspiracy theories (which she and Orban never tire of employing) and it highlights her mission to liberate the 'real people' of Italy/Europe who are currently "enslaved" by their evil globalist keepers.
In her campaign this summer, Meloni has been careful to *say* she approves of the EU, or at least a less centralized version of it. She claims to support the EU position on the Ukraine War, but Burlosconi and Matteo have well established Putin-friendly stances. She also likens her own support of the EU to that of Viktor Orban who has just been rebuked officially by the EU as leading Hungary down a non-democratic path https://www.politico.eu/article/viktor-orban-rule-of-law-european-parliament-brands-hungary-as-no-longer-a-democracy/ . She also expresses admiration for Poland's authoritarian Law and Justice Party. She has also spoken at the Republican organization CPAC-- currently ground zero of the MAGA movement. Further, while denying any lingering fascism in her party or herself, Meloni has refused to denounce Musolini, and consistently deflects questions about the infamous tri-color flame which remains the logo of her party, as it was for the pro-Musolini MSI which she joined in her teens. Her standard line is "that was a long time ago" and "fascism has been consigned to the past by history." (In a Vice Report below, you can see her immediately change the topic when asked by the reporter about the fascist tri-color flame logo she has refused to abandon; likely to keep the old faithful on board). In a classic moment of damage control last week, Meloni suspended a party member when some of his comments from 2014 from Facebook surfaced. The fellow Brothers of Italy member "praised" Meloni in the comments, likening her to Hitler ( referred to as "a great German statesman of 70 years ago"). https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62971802
Yet many who feel desperate in Italy in the wake of the Covid crisis as well as economic and political problems that seem intractable, take her on her word-- or at least are willing to "give her a chance." As a charismatic rhetorician practiced in the "politics of resentment," she is able to tap into the anger and despair of many citizens, not all of whom are well informed. Since Italian governments come and go with some frequency (72 since WW2) one can only hope this one is particularly short-lived. But we see desperate and confused Europeans in the aftermath of economic displacement, a refugee crisis, and the covid pandemic-- all in the space of a decade-- turning increasingly to Right Wing alternatives, as they feel the status quo of liberalism has failed them.
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Below is a link to a 15 min. Vice Report on Meloni's campaign which provides further context and contains interesting interviews, followed by 1 or 2 articles on this major development.
Vice News: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnhkDjb6nec
The Guardian: God, family fatherland-- how Giorgia Meloni has taken Italy's far right to the brink of power: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/17/giorgia-meloni-brothers-of-italy-leader-far-right-elections-alliance-
Deutsche Welle Video Report on Victory of Far Right Sweden Democrats (also descendants of a fascist party, in this case of Neo-Nazis from the 80s) who will be prominent members of Right Wing Coalition gov't that just defeated the Social Democrats 2 weeks ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpDQ6r-jHRc
Q: Why do you think we are seeing so many elections in liberal democracies rejecting the status quo and embracing hard-line far right parties-- some with very dubious roots in the Neo-Fascist movements of 20th century Europe?
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