Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Italy confronts its fascist past as the right prepares for power

Italy confronts its fascist past as the right prepares for power

Giorgia Meloni is on course to become prime minister. Her critics say she leads a party infiltrated by fascists.

There are some crimes that come to define a moment in history. The brutal killing of a Nigerian street vendor in Italy may be one.

The public discourse over the murder of Alika Ogorchukwu, beaten to death in front of bystanders in the coastal town of Civitanova Marche, has laid bare the divisions in society as Italians prepare to vote in a snap election next month.

For some, the killing is the fault of years of hate-stoking anti-immigrant rhetoric from politicians on the right, with disturbing echoes of fascism. Others accuse the left of trying to make political capital out of a tragedy.

The bitter dispute matters because, according to current polling, it is the anti-immigration parties on the right of Italian politics that stand to win most support at the election and form the next government.

At the head of them all is Giorgia Meloni, leader of the hard-right Brothers of Italy, who is on track to become the country’s next prime minister after the September 25 vote. It would mark a radical shift in Italian politics, posing potential risks to the country’s economy after a period of stability under outgoing Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s steadying influence. There are also fears a right-wing coalition could weaken European unity at a sensitive time.

Meloni’s critics say the world should wake up to just how extreme her views really are, warning of a return to the dark days of 1930s fascism. Media coverage pointing out that Italy’s new government should be sworn in around the time of the 100th anniversary of Mussolini’s March on Rome has reinforced the point.

For senior Democrat Laura Boldrini, a critic and political rival of the Brothers, Meloni “represents the far right in Italy which has not had a reckoning with its past.”

Boldrini said: “Brothers of Italy is infiltrated by declared fascist elements.” The party “clearly wants a closed society that looks to the past while Italy needs to look to the future. Medieval times are over.”

Are Meloni and her tribe truly the heirs to Mussolini’s fascists? And what will they do if they take power this fall?

The 45-year-old Meloni entered politics aged 15 as an activist in the Youth Front of the Italian Social Movement (MSI). It is a group that was formed by ex-fascists after World War II. While it was seen as the presentable arm of the movement, the MSI maintained links to extremists.

Meloni later left Silvio Berlusconi’s center-right People of Freedom party in opposition to its proposed support for technocrat Mario Monti in the 2013 elections, and founded the Brothers of Italy. The Brothers retain the MSI’s flame symbol in its logo and have fielded Mussolini’s descendants as candidates — although even they claim that talk of fascism is outdated.

The party argues its origins in opposing a non-democratically elected leader show it is in fact a defender of democracy — the opposite of fascist authoritarianism. The Brothers of Italy is also the only party that has refused to support successive unelected governments in the last legislature — culminating in its opposition to Draghi’s grand coalition.

Giorgia Meloni left Silvio Berlusconi’s center-right People of Freedom party in opposition to its proposed support for technocrat Mario Monti in the 2013 elections, and founded the Brothers of Italy


Meloni said last year in an interview that there was “no room for those nostalgic for fascism” in her party.

Raffaele Fitto, an MEP for Brothers of Italy, said his colleagues remained in opposition during Draghi’s government “because for us the principle is democracy, that the people choose. So when they accuse us of fascism, extremism, we can only respond with a laugh because our actions and choices are exactly the opposite.”

But there have been controversies. Last year a Brothers MEP was suspended after an undercover documentary showed him discussing illegal funding at meetings with extremists who performed fascist salutes and made racist jokes.

And with the pandemic receding, immigration — the mainstay of right-wing political movements all over the world — has returned as a key issue in Italian politics.


Naval blockades


Proposals published after a Brothers’ party conference in May called for immigrants to be detained in designated areas until they prove their asylum case, a naval blockade and fines for NGO rescue vessels.

Meloni’s ally and likely coalition partner is Matteo Salvini, the hardline anti-immigration leader of the League party. While he was interior minister in a previous coalition, Salvini waged a campaign against NGO migrant rescue vessels. He was put on trial for holding migrants on boats and many of his efforts to challenge NGO operations were struck down by the courts.

But during this election campaign, Salvini has already jumped on the issue of illegal migrants overwhelming a reception center on the island of Lampedusa to make his case to voters.

Even so, there are reasons to think that if they do end up leading the next government, the Brothers’ more outlandish plans may never come to fruition. The party’s immigration proposals are likely to clash with international, maritime and EU laws.

Besides, Italy’s democratic institutions and international obligations may help prevent it from pursuing dramatic deviations.

“The narrative that we are fascist is a fairytale,” said Fitto. “And it is bad for Italy and its reputation abroad.”

Some academics agree. If Meloni’s right-wing alliance wins power, it would be “the most right-wing government in the history of the Italian republic,” said Giovanni Orsina, professor of political history at Luiss University in Rome. But to typecast Brothers of Italy as fascist or neo-fascist, is a “misrepresentation,” he added. “You might dislike Meloni and her proposals. But fascism is just the wrong label.”

Italy’s international obligations — especially within the EU — leave little space for radicalism, said Orsina. “That’s one reason a right-wing government is not a catastrophe, there is little room for maneuver.”

Others believe the rise of the Brothers could herald an era of right-wing authoritarianism over time. For Mauro Magatti, professor of sociology at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan, this won’t be because Meloni is leading a “fascist” movement, but because she won’t be able to deliver on her promises to the public.

The Brothers of Italy is gathering support from poorly educated voters who are in economic trouble while offering solutions that are unlikely to be achievable, he said. Instead of turning to the center, voters could seek even harder right-wing options in the future.

“If a right-wing government comes to power, Brother of Italy will have to manage the discontent,” Magatti said. “The fact that their policies are very weak [means] this inadequacy could unleash unpredictable results.”

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
Wave of Complaints Against Apple Over iPhone 17 Pro’s Scratch Sensitivity
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Trump Says Ukraine Can Fully Restore Borders with NATO Backing
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Germany Weighs Excluding France from Key European Fighter Jet Programme
Cyberattack Disrupts Check-in and Boarding Systems at Major European Airports
Björn Borg Breaks Silence: Memoir Reveals Addiction, Shame and Cancer Battle
When Extremism Hijacks Idealism: How the Baader-Meinhof Gang Emerged and Fell
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
Trump Orders $100,000 Fee on H-1B Visas and Launches ‘Gold Card’ Immigration Pathway
France’s Looming Budget Crisis and Political Fracture Raise Fears of Becoming Europe’s “Sick Man”
Three Russian MiG-31 Jets Breach Estonian Airspace in ‘Unprecedentedly Brazen’ NATO Incident
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
France Erupts in Mass ‘Block Everything’ Protests on New PM’s First Day
×