Pride and prejudice, Italian style

The European Union envisioned by Giorgia Meloni along with her fellow travellers Marine Le Pen in France and Santiago Abascaul in Spain is not the one Ireland wants to be part of, writes Vittorio Bufacci

Giorgia Meloni chose to talk about ‘pride’ in her victory speech because her power base is, and has always been, that extreme right-wing core of voters nostalgic of Italy in the 1920s and 1930s. Picture: AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino

Pride, and responsibility. These were the key terms used by Giorgia Meloni in her victory speech in the early hours of Monday morning. 

The outright winner of Sunday’s election, Meloni’s ‘Brothers of Italy’ far-right party went from 4.3% in 2018 to 26% in 2022. The right-wing coalition made up of Meloni’s ‘Brothers of Italy’, Salvini’s ‘League’, and Berlusconi’s ‘Forza Italia’ will have an absolute majority in the next parliament.