Elections in Italy: Numbness and anxiety after the victory of the far right

On the contrary, time began to count for the formation of a government in ItaliaAfter the electoral victory of the right-wing coalition under Georgia Meloni. However, it could take weeks to complete at a critical time for Italy and the rest of Europe.

The biggest winners in the elections are the “Brothers of Italy” with 26.2% compared to 4.3% they got in the 2018 elections. Meloni’s allies, Berlusconi and Salvini, fell, because they are mainly among those who received the votes of the “Brothers of Italy”. . For its part, the center-left coalition has proven unable to stop the far-right’s path to power.

With votes counted from 90% of the polling stations, Matteo Salvini’s League got 8.9%, and Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia 8.3%, which means that the right-wing coalition in general has 44.3% of the vote. The center-left coalition combined 26.06% with Enrico Letta’s Democratic Party slipping from 20%, and taking 19%.

We will rule for all Italians.

Italy’s far-right leader Giorgia Meloni, who is seeking to become the next prime minister after her faction won a snap parliamentary election, seeks in her first statement to allay fears at home and abroad.

«Italy chose us and we will not deceive her. If we are called to rule, we will do so for all Italians, with the aim of uniting this people and emphasizing what unites them and not what divides them. We will work with the goal of making Italians proud of being Italians again.”

Meloni said, “The Italians sent a clear message in favor of a right-wing government led by Italian nuns,” stressing her ambition to become the next prime minister.

“We will judge all” Italians, he promised. “We will do this in order to unite the people and strengthen what unites them and not what divides them,” he added, calling for “unity” and calm, acknowledging that the election campaign was “violent and aggressive.” He stressed that “we will not betray your trust.”

Leader of the center-left coalition Enrico Letta He conceded defeat, declaring that he would not run again for leadership of his party next spring. “It is a gesture of love for the party and I repeat, my leadership will come to an end as soon as the Congress elects a new leader … I believe that this country deserves a very strong and very effective opposition that can serve the interests of Italian citizens.”

Chairman of the Five Star Movement and former Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte He made a statement in line with reality: “We made a big comeback. Everyone wanted us out of Parliament, everyone was signing, everyone was beating us to bring us down, and our comeback is really important, we are the third political force if the results are confirmed, we are the third political force and therefore we have a great responsibility.”

The Salvinifocused on the victory of the right-wing coalition: “For Italy today is a beautiful day, because we have five years of stability. Today we have to comment on a result that does not satisfy me, it is clear that 9% is not the result for which I worked, but we are 9% in the center-right government And we will be heroes in it.”

Democratic Party (Democratic Party) Vice President Deborah Seracciani acknowledged the “victory of the right under Georgia Meloni,” speaking of a “night of sorrow for the country.”

Europe’s fears

The political world is numb and anxious due to the rise to power of the far-right in one of the European Union’s major wartime countries, in Ukraine. The political earthquake in Italy comes two weeks after the earthquake in Sweden, where a conservative coalition including the Swedish Democrats (SD), a party that emerged from the neo-Nazi movement, scored an electoral victory, becoming Sweden’s largest right-wing party. Scandinavian country. SD and FdI belong to the same political family in the European Parliament.

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, during her intervention in Rome (indignantly) received as a warning, indicated a few days ago that the EU has “tools” to punish countries that violate the rule of law and shared values.

MEP Jordan Bardella, MEP for Marine Le Pen National Alarm (RN) commented. “No threat of any kind can stop democracy,” he added, noting that Europeans were “taking their fate into their own hands.”

Black sheep In Brussels, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, like his Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki, sent his “congratulations” to Mrs. Meloni.

“In these difficult times, we need more than ever friends with a common vision and a common approach to the challenges in Europe,” he added through his political advisor and MP Pallas Urban.

Georgia Meloni “showed the way” for a “proud”, “free” Europe made up of “sovereign states”, the leader of the Spanish far-right Fox party, Santiago Avascal, celebrated for his part.

‘Tough days for Europe’

“Difficult days are coming for Europe,” said German Vice President of the European Parliament for the Social Democratic Party and former Minister of Justice of Germany, Katharina Barley, noting via the Welt newspaper: “Meloni will be prime minister with the politicians.” Criteria for Victor Orban and Donald Trump. The victory of the center-right coalition in Italy is worrying for Europe.”

The representative of the Liberals for Foreign Policy Alexander Graf Lampsdorff estimates that with the new Italian government it will become increasingly difficult to “make decisions at the European level”. For his part, the representative of the German Green Party in the European Parliament, Rasmus Andersen, spoke of an “unprecedented Italian slide to the right” with huge repercussions for Europe.