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ROME – Giorgia Meloni completed her breakthrough rise in Italian politics on Saturday when she was sworn in as the country’s first female prime minister, giving her fringe party a level of power that has been beyond the reach of other forces of ‘extreme right in the West. europe
The ceremony took place in Italy’s presidential palace. His cabinet is expected to be approved in a parliamentary confidence vote early next week.
Meloni’s rise could be a transformative moment in a country that has sometimes been a testing ground for broader political change, whether with fascism a century ago or, more recently, with the personality-driven theater of Silvio Berlusconi. Italy will now be led by Meloni, who has perfected a distinctive brand of far-right politics, acting as a liberal firebrand on social issues while presenting himself as a steady, establishment-style hand in politics external and expenditure.
But if this mold has any chance of catching on in Europe, Meloni must succeed in the job.
It faces an economy that has defied years of rescue attempts and was in bad shape even before rising inflation and energy costs. There is much skepticism from fellow leaders across the continent, who worry that his Italy-first vision will lead to fights in Brussels. And he is already facing the challenges of the other parties in his coalition, which so far have only produced headaches and controversies.
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, congratulated Meloni and said she counted on and looked forward to “constructive cooperation with the new government on the challenges we face together.” Marine Le Pen, fellow European far-right, who has made several attempts at the French presidency, wished Meloni success.
“All over Europe, patriots are coming to power,” Le Pen said.
Female leaders are not new in Europe, but they are downright revolutionary in Italy, where the constellation of parties is almost entirely run by men. Meloni, 45, can be loud and caustic and quick with a verbal dagger when she feels insulted. His party has steadily gained popularity over the past five years despite its connection to earlier post-fascist parties, an outcome some experts say could only happen because Meloni represented a break with his familiar brand of politics.
“We started from scratch,” said Marco Marsilio, the governor of Abruzzo, a member of the Fratelli d’Italia party who has known Meloni since he was a teenager.
When the far-right coalition swept to victory last month, it made Meloni’s ascension to prime minister all but inevitable. His party won 26 percent of the overall vote, more than any other party. But their grip on power is nevertheless tenuous. Italian voters are notorious for giving their support to leaders and then quickly abandoning them.
Recent Italian governments have been toppled by internal strife. And this time, the fight started even before the government was sworn in.
Much of the turmoil has been sparked by Berlusconi, the 86-year-old billionaire tycoon and four-time prime minister who leads Forza Italia, a minor party in the ruling group.
First, last week, cameramen saw a note written by Berlusconi offering criticism of Meloni’s personality. “Pretentious, arrogant,” he had written.
Several audio leaks then showed Berlusconi bragging about a recent birthday present from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who had sent him 20 bottles of vodka and a “very kind letter,” to which Berlusconi said he had responded with an “equally sweet letter” and a packet of Lambrusco wine. The leaks also showed Berlusconi offering a Kremlin-friendly narrative of the war in Ukraine, saying Putin had reluctantly launched the “special operation” in response to popular will, hoping to install ” more sensible leaders” in Kyiv.
Meloni responded with an ultimatum: Anyone who does not agree with Italy’s Atlantic and European principles “will not be able to form part of the government, at the cost of not forming a government.”
Berlusconi’s comments on Russia pose an additional challenge, because they counter Meloni’s vision of a government that strongly supports Ukraine and NATO.
Berlusconi had presented himself as a great statesman of the coalition. His own party, despite declining popularity, was generally considered more centrist than its partners, which included Meloni’s Fratelli d’Italia and the League party, led by Matteo Salvini.
But Berlusconi has trouble ceding ground.
A far-right politician is about to become Italy’s first female leader
Meloni once served under him as youth minister; now he leads a party with three times more support than his own. Some critics, who highlight Berlusconi’s famous Bunga Bunga parties, his degrading portrayal of women on television and his habit of commenting on female beauty, say he does not know how to handle a personality like Meloni, who outdoes him on the networks social.
After Berlusconi’s list of adjectives for Meloni was made public, he said he had left one off the list.
“An adjective is missing: I can’t blackmail,” he said, in apparent reference to an earlier maneuver, when Berlusconi’s party did not support a Fratelli d’Italia candidate for Senate presidency. The candidate, Ignazio La Russa, known as a collector of fascist memorabilia, won anyway.
The leaked audio, reported by LaPresse, provided a reminder of the Russian sympathies that have always lurked in Meloni’s coalition. While Meloni has shown no affinity for Putin, Salvini has questioned the effectiveness of Russian sanctions and once wore a Putin T-shirt while visiting Red Square.
Berlusconi, meanwhile, has long had a Trumpian weakness for strongmen. He has hosted Putin in his villa in Sardinia and in 2015 became one of the few Western politicians to visit newly annexed Crimea, where he called Putin the world’s “number one” leader.
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Enrico Letta, leader of Italy’s center-left Democratic Party, said on Twitter that Italy was “undergoing a dangerous shift”, becoming increasingly ambiguous in its stance on Russia and Ukraine. One of the main opposition parties, the Five Star Movement, has been pushing for months to end arms shipments to Ukraine.
While Berlusconi’s apparent unreliability won’t make life any easier for Meloni, the dynamic thus far plays to his personal advantage. Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said on Thursday that while Berlusconi was “under the influence of vodka”, Meloni was demonstrating “true principles”.
Meloni had said that “with us in government, Italy will never be the weak link of the West”.
Ferruccio de Bortoli, the former editor-in-chief of the Corriere della Sera newspaper, said Meloni has come out looking “even more pro-Western, even more pro-NATO, than he appeared before.”
“I think Berlusconi’s variety show policy ended up representing a small but significant advantage for Giorgia Meloni’s leadership,” he said.
On Friday morning, Meloni spoke to the media, flanked by Salvini and Berlusconi, after consulting Italian President Sergio Mattarella on forming a new government. Meloni said they had agreed on the need to make things official “in the shortest possible time.”
She said the support behind her was “unanimous”.
Berlusconi, at that moment, looked at Salvini and raised his eyebrows.