Giorgia Meloni: Italy's far right on course to win election - BBC

Reuters

Far-right leader Giorgia Meloni has claimed victory in Italy's election, and is on course to become the country's first female prime minister.

Ms Meloni is widely expected to form Italy's most right-wing government since World War Two.

That will alarm much of Europe as Italy is the EU's third-biggest economy.

However, speaking after the vote, Ms Meloni said her Brothers of Italy party would "govern for everyone" and would not betray people's trust.

"Italians have sent a clear message in favour of a right-wing government led by Brothers of Italy," she told reporters in Rome, holding up a sign saying "Thank you Italy".

She is set to win 26% of the vote, based on provisional results, ahead of her closest rival Enrico Letta from the centre left.

• LIVE: Far-right Meloni set to become Italy's first female PM

Ms Meloni's right-wing alliance - which also includes Matteo Salvini's far-right League and former PM Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right Forza Italia - will take control of both the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, with around 44% of the vote.

Her own party's dramatic success in the vote disguised the fact that her allies performed poorly, with Mr Salvini's party slipping below 9%, and Forza Italia even lower. Four years ago, Brothers of Italy won little more than 4% of the vote but this time benefited from staying out of the national unity government that collapsed in July.

The decision on who becomes Italy's next leader is up to the president, Sergio Mattarella, and that will take time.

Although Giorgia Meloni has worked hard to soften her image, emphasising her support for Ukraine and diluting anti-EU rhetoric, she leads a party rooted in a post-war movement that rose out of dictator Benito Mussolini's fascists.

Earlier this year she outlined her priorities in a raucous speech to Spain's far-right Vox party: "Yes to the natural family, no to the LGBT lobby, yes to sexual identity, no to gender ideology... no to Islamist violence, yes to secure borders, no to mass migration... no to big international finance... no to the bureaucrats of Brussels!"

The centre-left alliance was a long way behind the right with 26% of the vote and Democratic Party figure Debora Serracchiani said it was a sad evening for Italy. The right "has the majority in parliament, but not in the country", she insisted.

The left failed to form a viable challenge with other parties after Italy's 18-month unity government fell apart, and officials were downbeat even before the vote. The Five Star Movement under Giuseppe Conte won a convincing third place - but does not see eye to eye with Enrico Letta even though they have several policies in common on immigration and raising the minimum wage.

Turnout fell to a record low of 63.91% - nine points down on 2018. Voting levels were especially poor in southern regions including Sicily.

Italy is a founding father of the European Union and a member of Nato, and Ms Meloni's rhetoric on the EU places her close to Hungary's nationalist leader Viktor Orban.

Her allies have both had close ties with Russia. Mr Berlusconi, 85, claimed last week that Vladimir Putin was pushed into invading Ukraine while Mr Salvini has called into question Western sanctions on Moscow.

Ms Meloni wants to revisit Italian reforms agreed with the EU in return for almost €200bn (£178bn) in post-Covid recovery grants and loans, arguing that the energy crisis has changed the situation.

Reuters

The Hungarian prime minister's long-serving political director, Balazs Orban, was quick to congratulate Italy's right-wing parties: "We need more than ever friends who share a common vision and approach to Europe's challenges."

In France, Jordan Bardella of the far-right National Rally said Italian voters had given European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen a lesson in humility. She had earlier said Europe had "the tools" to respond if Italy went in a "difficult direction".

However, Prof Gianluca Passarrelli of Rome's Sapienza University told the BBC he thought she would avoid rocking the boat on Europe and focus on other policies: "I think we will see more restrictions on civil rights and policies on LGBT and immigrants."

Mr Salvini will be hoping to return to the interior ministry to halt migrant boats crossing from Libya.

This election marks a one-third reduction in the size of the two houses, and that appears to have benefited the winning parties.

A Rai TV exit poll suggested the three parties will hold 227-257 seats in the revamped 400-seat Chamber and 111-131 seats out of a total of 200 seats in the Senate. Mr Salvini said the right had a clear advantage in both houses.

The same Rai poll also reveals just how dominant the Meloni-led coalition is likely to be. The centre left will hold a mere 78-98 seats in the Chamber and 33-53 in the Senate, it says.

More on Italy's election

• Meloni: Leader on course to lead Italy
• Who's who? What you need to know in Italy's election
• Katya Adler: Italy's far right cash in on cost of living crisis
• Sicily: Far-right scents power in divided Italy

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2022-09-26 06:55:55Z
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Giorgia Meloni: Italy's far right on course to win election - BBC

Reuters

Far-right leader Giorgia Meloni has claimed victory in Italy's election, and is on course to become the country's first female prime minister.

Ms Meloni is widely expected to form Italy's most right-wing government since World War Two.

That will alarm much of Europe as Italy is the EU's third-biggest economy.

However, speaking after the vote, Ms Meloni said her Brothers of Italy party would "govern for everyone" and would not betray people's trust.

"Italians have sent a clear message in favour of a right-wing government led by Brothers of Italy," she told reporters in Rome.

She is predicted to win up to 26% of the vote, based on provisional results, ahead of her closest rival Enrico Letta from the centre left.

Ms Meloni's right-wing alliance - which also includes Matteo Salvini's far-right League and former PM Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right Forza Italia - now looks to have control of both the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, with a projected 42.2% of the Senate vote.

But the decision on who becomes Italy's next leader is up to the president, not Giorgia Meloni, and that will take time.

Although she has worked hard to soften her image, emphasising her support for Ukraine and diluting anti-EU rhetoric, she leads a party rooted in a post-war movement that rose out of dictator Benito Mussolini's fascists.

Earlier this year she outlined her priorities in a raucous speech to Spain's far-right Vox party: "Yes to the natural family, no to the LGBT lobby, yes to sexual identity, no to gender ideology... no to Islamist violence, yes to secure borders, no to mass migration... no to big international finance... no to the bureaucrats of Brussels!"

Projections put the centre-left alliance well behind with 26% and Democratic Party figure Debora Serracchiani said it was a sad evening for Italy. The right "has the majority in parliament, but not in the country", she insisted.

The left failed to form a viable challenge with other parties, after Italy's 18-month national unity government collapsed in July, and officials were downbeat even before the vote. The Five Star Movement under Giuseppe Conte is on course for third place but despite having several centre-left policies does not see eye to eye with Enrico Letta.

Turnout was dramatically low - 63.82% by the time polls closed - said Italy's interior ministry, almost 10 points down on 2018. Voting levels were especially poor in southern regions including Sicily.

Italy is a founding father of the European Union and a member of Nato, and Ms Meloni's rhetoric on the EU places her close to Hungary's nationalist leader Viktor Orban.

Her allies have both had close ties with Russia. Mr Berlusconi, 85, claimed last week that Vladimir Putin was pushed into invading Ukraine while Mr Salvini has called into question Western sanctions on Moscow.

Ms Meloni wants to revisit Italian reforms agreed with the EU in return for almost €200bn (£178bn) in post-Covid recovery grants and loans, arguing that the energy crisis has changed the situation.

Reuters

The Hungarian prime minister's long-serving political director, Balazs Orban, was quick to congratulate Italy's right-wing parties: "We need more than ever friends who share a common vision and approach to Europe's challenges."

In France, Jordan Bardella of the far-right National Rally said Italian voters had given European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen a lesson in humility, She had earlier said Europe had "the tools" to respond if Italy went in a "difficult direction".

However, Prof Gianluca Passarrelli of Rome's Sapienza University told the BBC he thought she would avoid rocking the boat on Europe and focus on other policies: "I think we will see more restrictions on civil rights and policies on LGBT and immigrants."

Mr Salvini will be hoping to return to the interior ministry to halt migrant boats crossing from Libya.

This election marks a one-third reduction in the size of the two houses, and that appears to have benefited the winning parties.

A Rai TV exit poll suggested the three parties would hold 227-257 seats in the revamped 400-seat Chamber and 111-131 seats out of a total of 200 seats in the Senate. Mr Salvini said the right had a clear advantage in both houses.

The same Rai poll also reveals just how dominant the Meloni-led coalition is likely to be, The centre left would hold a mere 78-98 seats in the Chamber and 33-53 in the Senate.

More on Italy's election

• Meloni: Leader on course to lead Italy
• Who's who? What you need to know in Italy's election
• Katya Adler: Italy's far right cash in on cost of living crisis
• Sicily: Far-right scents power in divided Italy

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2022-09-26 04:06:22Z
1576010734

North Korea tests ballistic missile as US aircraft carrier arrives for joint military exercises - Sky News

North Korea has tested a short-range ballistic missile as a US aircraft carrier arrived in South Korea for joint military exercises.

It was launched on Sunday from the western town of Taechon and flew 370 miles (600km), said the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff, before landing off North Korea's east coast.

The launch is the latest provocation from Kim Jong Un's regime and appears to be timed to coincide with the arrival on Friday of the nuclear-powered USS Ronald Reagan in the region.

America's Indo-Pacific Command said the launch posed no "immediate threat to US personnel or territory, or to our allies" but showed the "destabilising impact" of the North's unlawful weapons programme.

North Korea has ramped up testing this year, firing more than 30 ballistic missiles and its first intercontinental missiles since 2017.

There is also speculation the secretive state could be working on a submarine capable of firing ballistic missiles.

Satellite images of the port of Sinpo, a major shipyard for submarines, show multiple barges and other vessels according to analysis this week by North Korea-focussed site 38 North.

More on North Korea

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Having a roaming submarine that could fire such missiles would likely bolster the country's nuclear deterrent.

However, experts also say it would take some time to get several of these vessels operational given the intense and wide-ranging sanctions against the country.

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Details of the latest missile test suggest it may have been a nuclear-capable short-range weapon modelled after Russia's Iskander missile. These missiles travel at relatively low altitudes and are manoeuvrable in flight, making them harder to intercept.

North Korea has rejected attempts to reopen disarmament negotiations - which stalled in 2019 - and Kim Jong Un told his parliament this month that he would never give up his nuclear ambitions.

The country also passed a law authorising the pre-emptive use of nuclear weapons under a broad range of scenarios if its existence or leadership is threatened.

North Korea is set to be high on the agenda when US Vice President Kamala Harris visits the Seoul next week after attending the state funeral of assassinated former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe.

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2022-09-25 07:28:25Z
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North Korea fires suspected ballistic missile into sea - BBC

KCNA via Reuters

North Korea has fired a suspected ballistic missile off its east coast, its first known test since June, South Korean military officials have said.

It came after a US aircraft carrier arrived in South Korea to participate in joint drills, and ahead of a planned visit by Vice President Kamala Harris.

Seoul said the launch was an "act of grave provocation".

The UN prohibits North Korea from ballistic and nuclear weapons tests.

South Korea's military said it detected a short range missile fired at just before 07:00 local time (11:00 GMT) close to Taechon, more than 100 km (60 miles) north of Pyongyang. It said it flew about 600 km at an altitude of 60 km.

"Our military maintains a full readiness posture and is closely cooperating with the US while strengthening surveillance and vigilance," it said in a statement.

Japan's coast guard confirmed the launch, warning ships to "be vigilant". Tokyo's defence minister Yasukazu Hamada said the missile reached a maximum altitude of around 50 km, falling in waters off North Korea's eastern coast, and outside Japan's exclusive economic zone.

"It's North Korea's way of showing defiance of the [US] alliance," Soo Kim, an analyst at the Rand Corporation, told AFP.

The nuclear-powered USS Ronald Reagan docked in the southern port city of Busan on Friday, to take part in joint drills off South Korea's east coast. The exercises are for the "sake of peace and stability on the Korean peninsula", according to the South Korean navy.

• N Korea missile tests: What does Kim Jong-un want?
• What are North Korea's nuclear capabilities?

Ms Harris will visit South Korea in the coming days as part of a trip to the region that will include the funeral of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Tensions on the Korean peninsula have spiked in the past year, with Pyongyang firing a number of ballistic missiles.

South Korea's President, Yoon Suk-yeol, who took office in May, has promised a tougher stance on North Korea and indicated closer ties with the US.

Earlier this month, North Korea passed a law declaring itself to be a nuclear weapons state, with leader Kim Jong-un ruling out the possibility of talks on denuclearisation. Despite widespread sanctions, Pyongyang conducted six nuclear tests between 2006 and 2017.

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2022-09-25 02:33:01Z
1580645724

Iran protests: Raisi to 'deal decisively' with widespread unrest - BBC

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Iran's president has vowed to take action against protesters after more than a week of anti-government demonstrations.

President Ebrahim Raisi pledged to "deal decisively" with the protests, which have now spread to most of Iran's 31 provinces.

Officials say some 35 people have been killed since protests broke out over the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody.

Clashes continue in several cities.

Ms Amini had been detained for allegedly breaking headscarf rules. Officers reportedly beat her head with a baton and banged her head against one of their vehicles. The police have said there is no evidence of any mistreatment and that she suffered "sudden heart failure".

And while Mr Raisi says her death will be investigated, his Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi has insisted that Ms Amini was not beaten.

"Reports from oversight bodies were received, witnesses were interviewed, videos were reviewed, forensic opinions were obtained and it was found that there had been no beating," he said.

Videos circulating on social media have captured violent unrest in dozens of cities across the country over the past few days, with some showing security forces firing what appeared to be live ammunition on protesters in the north-western cities of Piranshahr, Mahabad and Urmia.

More clashes in several cities, including the capital Tehran, were reported on Saturday. Demonstrators are reported to be spreading out to avoid congregating in a single place.

New images have also appeared on social media showing protesters hurling petrol bombs at the security forces.

Meanwhile reformist group the Union of Islamic Iran People's Party has called for the mandatory dress code to be repealed and for "peaceful demonstrations" to be allowed.

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Amnesty International has warned that evidence it gathered pointed to "a harrowing pattern of Iranian security forces deliberately and unlawfully firing live ammunition at protesters".

It added that government forces shot 19 people dead - including three children - on Wednesday night alone. The BBC cannot independently verify this.

• What's going on with Iran and the internet?
• Iran grapples with most serious challenge in years
• CNN cancels interview with Iranian president over headscarf demand

Mr Raisi has dismissed the protests as "riots". Iran, he said, must "deal decisively with those who oppose the country's security and tranquillity".

Hundreds of people have been detained by security forces, with the police chief in the north-western province of Guilan announcing on Saturday that some 739 people - including 60 women - have been detained in his region alone.

The BBC has heard testimony from some of those arrested who allege they were beaten. One said he was beaten "ruthlessly" before being jailed in a small cell with hundreds of others, where they were deprived of food, water and access to a bathroom.

Government forces have also launched a crackdown on independent media and activists. The US-based media watchdog the Committee to Protect Journalists says 11 journalists have been detained since Monday.

In the western border town of Oshnavieh, sources told the BBC that demonstrators briefly took control of sections of the town from government forces.

Locals told the BBC that demonstrators had seized control overnight and that security forces and government officials had fled, before regaining control on Saturday. Videos posted from the town showed large crowds of people marching through city streets with no police presence, while loud explosions could be heard.

Tonight, protesters seem to have taken control of parts of the city of Oshnavieh, in Iran’s West Azerbaijan province. #MahsaAmini #iran pic.twitter.com/Wft497BJe6

— Rana Rahimpour (@ranarahimpour) September 23, 2022

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.View original tweet on Twitter

State media denied the reports, but said protesters had stormed three outposts of the Basji Organisation, a paramilitary associated with the government's Revolutionary Guards.

The US says it will ease internet curbs on Iran to counter Tehran's clampdown on the protests, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken pledging to "help make sure the Iranian people are not kept isolated and in the dark".

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2022-09-24 21:33:13Z
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Ukraine war: Hundreds arrested as Russian draft protests continue - BBC

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Hundreds of people have been arrested by authorities as protests against Russia's new "partial mobilisation" continue across the country, an independent rights group has said.

OVD-Info said 724 people were detained across 32 different cities on Saturday.

Widespread demonstrations have broken out since President Vladimir Putin announced plans to draft 300,000 men to fight in Ukraine.

Unsanctioned rallies are banned under Russian law.

But Mr Putin's move to draft civilians into the military has sparked large scale protests in urban areas, with more than 1,000 people being detained at demonstrations earlier this week.

In Moscow, news agency AFP reported witnessing one demonstrator shouting "we are not cannon fodder" as she was arrested by officers.

And in St Petersburg, Russia's second city, one man told reporters: "I don't want to go to war for Putin."

Seventy-year-old Natalya Dubova told AFP that she opposed the war and confessed she was "afraid for young people" being ordered to the front.

Some of those arrested on Saturday reported being handed draft papers and ordered to report to recruiting centres while being held by security officials. The Kremlin defended the practice earlier this week, saying "it isn't against the law".

Moscow has also approved harsh new punishments for those accused of dereliction of duty once drafted.

Mr Putin signed fresh decrees on Saturday imposing punishments of up to 10 years imprisonment for any soldier caught surrendering, attempting to desert the military or refusing to fight.

The president also signed orders granting Russian citizenship to any foreign national who signs up to serve a year in the country's military.

The decree, which some observers have suggested displays how severe Moscow's shortage of troops has become, bypasses the usual requirement of five years of residency in the country.

• Russia reveals exemptions as men flee call-up
• What does Russian military call-up mean for Ukraine?
• Putin fires deputy defence chief amid supply failures

Elsewhere, other young Russians continue to flee mobilisation by seeking to leave the country.

On the border with Georgia, queues of Russian cars stretch back more than 30km (18 miles) and the interior ministry has urged people not to travel.

Local Russian officials have admitted that there's been a significant influx of cars trying to cross - with nearly 2,500 vehicles waiting at one checkpoint.

The admission is a change of tone from Russia, with the Kremlin describing reports of Russians fleeing conscription as "fake" on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Finland has also seen a sharp increase in the number of Russians seeking to enter the country.

Matti Pitkaniitty, a spokesperson for the country's Border Guard, said said the number of Russians arriving had more than doubled since last week.

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On Friday, the government announced plans to stop Russian tourists entering the country.

"The aspiration and purpose is to significantly reduce the number of people coming to Finland from Russia," President Sauli Niinistö told the state broadcaster.

Several other neighbouring states have already ruled out offering asylum to Russians seeking to avoid the draft.

"Many Russians who now flee Russia because of mobilisation were fine with killing Ukrainians," Latvia's Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs said. "They did not protest then. It is not right to consider them as conscientious objectors."

On Friday, the Kremlin revealed a host of occupations it said will be exempt from conscription aimed at boosting its war effort in Ukraine.

IT workers, bankers and journalists working for state media will escape the "partial mobilisation" announced by President Putin on Wednesday.

But some have cast doubt on the truth of the Kremlin's claims, and reports have been emerging of Russian men who do not meet the criteria being called up by local recruiting officers.

Margarita Simonyan, the editor of the state-run media outlet RT, posted to Twitter a list of elderly and disabled citizens ordered to report for duty.

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2022-09-24 18:19:46Z
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Who is Giorgia Meloni? Far-right leader set to become Italy's first female PM - Sky News

A century ago, in 1922, Benito Mussolini's Black Shirts marched on Rome, the start of 20 years of Fascist rule. Now, Italy could for the first time elect a prime minister whose party is rooted in neo-Fascism.

Giorgia Meloni, leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy party, is widely expected to win the national elections on Sunday, and then form a coalition government including Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia party and Matteo Salvini's League party.

The 45-year-old would be the first female leader in Italy, a country far behind its European allies in gender parity, and the first far-right politician to become head of government in a major eurozone economy.

Image: (L-R) Matteo Salvini, Silvio Berlusconi and Giorgia Meloni at the close of the campaign. Pic: AP

It would be an astonishing success for a politician long seen on the fringe and for a party that won just 4.3% of the vote at the last election in 2018.

Now, Brothers of Italy, which Ms Meloni founded 10 years ago, could win around 25% and become the country's largest party.

But the victory of a nationalist and eurosceptic in Italy would also raise fears in Europe, already grappling with the government of Viktor Orban's Fidesz in Hungary and the rise of Marine Le Pen's Rassemblement National in France, Vox in Spain, and Chega in Portugal.

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1:39

Meloni tells Sky News she'd honoured to be Italy's first female PM

Read more:
Residents in Mussolini's birthplace 'want change'
Meloni's Twitter controversy

A Roman native, Ms Meloni has a no-nonsense attitude, a thick working-class accent and an ability to rouse crowds that make her stand out among the white middle-aged men who dominate Italian politics and boardrooms.

Her values of God, homeland and (traditional) family echo those promoted during the Fascist regime. Her party is named after the opening line of the national anthem, a warcry about fighting to the death for freedom.

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Like other populists, she speaks out against "global elites" and fights what she calls the "groupthink" of political correctness and gender ideology.

But she has long been a supporter of NATO, and has spoken out against the Russian invasion of Ukraine, while many others on the far-right support Vladimir Putin.

Fascist roots

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1:19

Meloni: Fascism 'handed over to history'

Ms Meloni, who as a young woman praised Mussolini, now repudiates the Fascist dictator and his anti-Semitic laws.

She places her party, which has roots in the Italian Social Movement (MSI) created by Mussolini supporters in 1946, firmly in the mainstream, alongside the Conservative Party here or the Republican Party in the US.

Indeed she often cites Roger Scruton, the philosopher and public intellectual who inspired Margaret Thatcher.

And she told Sky News' Europe Correspondent Adam Parsons that "there is nobody all over the world who needs to be afraid of us."

In a video posted this summer on Facebook - where she speaks English and other foreign languages for the consumption of the international media - she seeks to reassure European capitals that she poses no threat to democracy.

"The Italian right has handed Fascism over to history for decades now," she says.

Still, Brothers of Italy retains the flag-flame logo associated with Fascists (it is reputed to mean that Fascism burns on), and its rank-and-file includes Mussolini sympathisers who are sometimes caught giving the stiff-arm salute, while some local officials have Mussolini memorabilia in their offices.

Image: Giorgia Meloni in an effective public speaker Pic: AP

'I'm Giorgia'

Ms Meloni first captured widespread attention in 2019, when she gave a rousing speech that would become the most famous of her career.

Speaking to supporters in Rome piazza, she issued a rallying cry against global leftist forces that, she claimed, see family and national identity as enemies, and that want us to be "just codes".

"But we aren't just codes. We are people. And we'll defend our identity," she said.

Then, in what has become a signature line, she added: "I'm Giorgia, I'm a woman, I'm a mother, I'm Italian, I'm Christian! You won't take that away from me!"

This last flurry became a meme, remixed as a hit dance track that further spread her notoriety, and her fame. "I am Giorgia" is also the title of her autobiography.

She is against adoption by same-sex couples. When Peppa Pig featured a couple consisting of two mothers, her party rushed to say that showing the episode in Italy would be unacceptable.

And though she insists she won't abolish Italy's abortion law, some fear she might try to restrict its application.

Image: This episode of Peppa Pig, featuring two mothers, irked Brothers of Italy

Naval blockade

A strong anti-immigrant stance is a cornerstone of Ms Meloni's manifesto, even as many economists note that, with Italy's low birth rate, the country's economy needs migrants.

She has called for a naval blockade of Africa's Mediterranean coast to stop migrants from reaching Italy.

In the past she alluded to the "Great Replacement" theory, a conspiracy suggesting that global elites want to substitute Europeans with immigrants.

In another notable speech, at a rally of the Spanish rightist party Vox last June, she said: "Yes to natural families, no to the LGBT lobby.

"Yes to sexual identity, no to gender ideology. Yes to the culture of life, no to the abyss of death."

"No to the violence of Islam, yes to safer borders. No to mass immigration, yes to work for our people. No to major international finance!"

In one of the most controversial moments of the electoral campaign, she retweeted the blurred video of a Ukrainian woman allegedly being raped by an asylum seeker in an Italian city, saying she could not remain silent in the face of "this atrocious episode of sexual violence". (The video was eventually removed by Twitter for violating its rules.)

'Moment of truth'

"For somebody who prides herself of being true to herself, of always saying what she really thinks, it's almost as if she's had a split personality during the electoral campaign", says Giada Zampano, a journalist and expert on the right-wing movement in Italy who has followed Ms Meloni's rise.

"On the one hand, we see the orator, the speaker who rouses the crowd, who seeks to appeal to the 10% Fascist core of her electorate.

"On the other we see the reassuring face who seeks to assuage the fears of Europe."

Zampano, who expects a decisive victory by Ms Meloni, adds: "Once she's in power, she will have to show her true colours.

"She will have to make choices when it comes to Italy's relationship with Europe, fiscal policy, nationalism, the European recovery funds. These decisions will be far more significant than labels about Fascism, post-Fascism or neo-Fascism.

"That will be the moment of truth."

Image: Giorgia Meloni (left) with other women ministers in Silvio Berlusconi's 2008 government

Her life

Ms Meloni was raised by her mother in a working-class neighbourhood on the outskirts of Rome.

Her father left when she was one to live in the Canary Islands, with Ms Meloni and her sister visiting him once or twice a year. When she was 11, Ms Meloni stopped seeing him altogether.

As a child, she was called "fatty", something she said made her stronger.

She studied languages in high school and never went to university, instead taking up all manner of temporary jobs: she worked as a babysitter, as a stallholder at a flea market, as a bartender in a disco.

As for her political passion, it was awakened, she says, after the Mafia murdered a prosecutor in the early 1990s.

Still a teenager, she walked into the local branch of a previous iteration of the heirs to the Fascists, a party that had refashioned itself as mainstream conservative under the name of National Alliance.

Image: Meloni in 2015

By 29 she was an MP, at 31 she became the youngest minister in post-war Italy, running the youth portfolio in Mr Berlusconi's coalition government in 2008.

More recently, she was among the few who didn't participate in the unity coalition headed by Mario Draghi, the prime minister she might succeed.

She has a daughter with a TV journalist but, despite her defence of the traditional family, is not married.

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2022-09-24 03:15:54Z
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