Giorgia Meloni’s triumph as the first woman to lead a winning party in the macho world of Italian politics is not a moment to celebrate, for she has brought the far right into the European mainstream, precisely a century after her Fascist forebear Benito Mussolini seized power.
It could take until the middle of next month to know the exact composition of the new Italian government. But polls on Sunday night crowned Meloni a clear winner. Italy’s new government is set to be a coalition led by Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party, joined by the anti-immigrant League and Putin sympathizer Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia.
What’s also certain is she has fractured an entente in European politics bringing a party with its roots in neo-fascism into power for the first time since World War II — at the helm of a founding country of the EU at that. Following the ascent of Sweden’s far-right Democrats this month as kingmakers in their governing coalition, the question is where could the next domino fall?
