Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing government this weekend became the longest surviving Italian government since the fall of fascism in 1945. It is a remarkable achievement for a woman who identifies as a conservative, but who has been relentlessly branded as “the heir to Mussolini” and a far-right threat to democracy because she was once a post-fascist.
Regardless, Italy’s first female prime minister has become the standard bearer of the European right as the people of Europe continue to pivot right. Elections next year look likely to bring the right to power in both France and Spain.
The Latino will replace the Teutonic in the engine room of the EU
In Italy – where a general election must be held by 22 December 2027, although the talk is of April or May – Meloni remains the favourite to win and thus to break another record: an unprecedented back-to-back second term.
The consequences for the EU will be dramatic as a triple alliance of right-wing France, Italy and Spain will compel the shaky centre-right coalition government of Friedrich Merz in Germany to pivot right as well. It will mean that Germany for once no longer calls the shots. The Latino will replace the Teutonic in the engine room of the EU.
