Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Getty
Italy’s next prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, leads a party that can trace it roots to the fascist followers of Benito Mussolini and a coalition that features the parties of both the corrupt Putin apologist former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, and of the influential ultra-nationalist politician Matteo Salvini (who is perhaps the most far-right of the bunch and also a big Putin fan).
Following elections on Sunday, Meloni’s Fratelli d’Italia party, Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party, and Salvini’s Lega Nord party will be able to form a coalition that will give them control of the upper and lower houses of Italy’s parliament—and presumably enable them to advance an agenda that will be anti-immigrant and hyper-nationalist.
How their euroskeptic biases and pro-Putin leanings will ultimately impact the function of the EU, and the West’s efforts to support Ukraine, are both big question marks. They also underscore the fact that maintaining trans-Atlantic unity is going to be an increasingly difficult diplomatic challenge for the Biden administration and our like-minded allies.