Italy’s Giorgia Meloni Is Defying Early Expectations

Her election prompted concerns about far-right tendencies, but she’s governed more like Thatcher than Orbán.

By
48
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on March 16, 2023 in Rome. (Photo by Antonio Masiello/Getty Images)

Just who is Giorgia Meloni? The image presented in the media is at odds with her actual record in her first six months as Italy’s prime minister.

The Associated Press led the news of her election thus: “Her heart steeped in far-right tenets, as a young teen Giorgia Meloni embarked on an ideological quest that has propelled her—30 years later—to the height of government power.” More recently, the state-funded Australian Broadcasting Corporation asked, “Is Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni a Fascist?” The Atlantic all but labeled her a Nazi. Thus far, that narrative is wrong.

That’s not to say the accusations are entirely fabricated. At the age of 15, Meloni joined the Italian Social Movement (MSI), a post-World War II successor to Mussolini’s short-lived Repubblica Sociale. At the age of 19, she praised Italy’s former Duce, Benito Mussolini: “I think [he] was a good politician. Everything he did, he did for Italy.” The party Meloni founded, Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy), has a name reminiscent of the fascist era, and Meloni chose explicitly to use a tricolor flame (fiamma tricolore) as its symbol, borrowed from the MSI. It’s not quite a swastika, but it isn’t just the Italian flag, either.

Is Meloni another Duce? A victim of her youthful political indiscretions? A conservative anathema to the mainstream media? Or a little of everything? There is no decisive answer. Branding her a fascist because of her political choices at 15 would be ridiculous; such charges were harder to avoid after her adult decision to rebrand her party with the odious fiamma. Then, too, there are her coalition partners. The circus-like Italian political system denies any party a pure majority, affording extremist parties a place in governing. Meloni’s coalition is no different. 

Create a free account
Access additional articles and newsletters for no cost, no credit card information needed. Continue ALREADY HAVE AN ACCOUNT? SIGN IN
48
By
Comments (48)
Join The Dispatch to participate in the comments.
 
  1. Mathias

    One other factor for which I have been looking as I have observed Giorgia Meloni is how she talks about Jews. It is basically an established rule that Fascist-leaning populists tend to drift antisemitic. It usually doesn't take long for their diatribes against 'the globalists' to specifically mention 'the Zionist bankers' (formerly 'the Joooz' but updated for modern polite terminology). It may not be true that an absence of antisemitism proves that a politician is benign, but as Andrew Klavan said many moons ago, the presence of antisemitism is something of a 'magical dirt-bag detector'. Every dictator worth his salt finds time to say something nasty about Jews or Israel.

    Viktor Orban is slowly becoming a sad example of this, as his (admittedly not unprovoked) attacks on George Soros have begun to indulge in misojudaic stereotypes. From the point when this became normal practice, Orban's turn toward Putin was a foreseeable next step. (In the US, Pat Buchanan was for a long time the standard-bearer for right-wing populism, and not coincidentally the most likely to engage in antisemitic and anti-Israel conspiracy talk.)

    So I watched and waited to see whether Meloni was friendly toward the Jewish state as a whole. Lo and behold, she appears to view Israel with a favorable eye, and hosted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently as he visited Rome.

    So as long as she supports Ukraine, holds a critical stance against Putin and China, and remains friendly toward Israel (and Italian Jews domestically), I view it as a sign that the populism hasn't rotted her brain, and her pro-family, pro-faith and pro-patriotism policies can be cautiously applauded. We need a turn toward these values. It is a pity that they are so often upheld only by unreliable allies. Here's hoping that Meloni remains one of the good ones.

    Collapse
  2. Avatar photo
    Ben Connelly

    This was a very informative article that completely changed my opinion on Meloni. Of course, some Dispatch commenters here seem to think Danielle Pletka is a fascist, so maybe not everyone will be as convinced as me. Then again, most of them probably think Barry Goldwater was a fascist…

    Collapse
  3. Aa_meister

    Very informative piece. I really appreciate these kinds of insights into the leaders of other countries.

    Collapse
  4. Avatar photo
    OJFL

    Italy needs a much more laissez-faire government. If Ms. Meloni can move the country in the direction, however imperfectly, she will be successful.

    Collapse
  5. Jhendrix58

    Thank you for this report on Giorgia Meloni. I learned from it.

    Collapse
  6. Avatar photo
    Pat Riot

    "The new Italian PM is also a hardliner on illegal immigration."

    The writer should have written simply, "immigration", not "illegal immigration", which is nonsense in that context. Unlike Republicans in the US, they don't play this BS word game in other countries: if they want less immigration into their country they just say so.

    Collapse
    1. Avatar photo
      PaulH

      Actually, under EU rules, movement between member countries is very easy, so the term "illegal immigration" is an important distinction. And, in point of fact, in the US, many people are much more concerned with illegal immigration than with legal immigration. While you can disparage that as a "BS word game", that just reflects your imputing positions and motives to people that they don't have -- something that you do all time in this comment section.

      Collapse
      1. Avatar photo
        OJFL

        While you are correct, I would only add that to my dismay many in the Republican Party are indeed worried about immigration with no qualifications. Illegal immigration is a worldwide problem, but being against immigration as a whole is not conservative as we understood it, Mr. H.

        Collapse
        1. Avatar photo
          Pat Riot

          Absolutely, and this is why writers like this one hide behind BS word games like, "illegal immigration". It's a "coalition" thing.

          Also, the writer here wasn't, factually, talking about anything... illegal. She keeps talking about the immigrants being processed e.g. through a process specified by the law. So her application of the GOP trope here didn't make sense on the semantic level...

          Collapse
          1. GenZConservative

            Legal immigrants don't need to be processed. That's the whole point of the Schengen Zone. It's only the ones showing up in boats without calling ahead that need to be "processed" i.e. the illegal kind.

            Don't hide behind "a process specified through law" - so is a criminal trial or a deportation.

            Collapse
        2. Avatar photo
          PaulH

          I would definitely agree that there are some Republicans particularly of the NatCon variety who oppose immigration across the board -- whether that is "conservative" or not I think has varied between time and place. I tend to be favorable towards immigration so long as it is done legally.

          Collapse
          1. Avatar photo
            OJFL

            We have to remember many use the word conservative too loosely, Mr. H. Conservatism as defined since its foundations is based on the concept of natural rights, that may or may not have religious conotation. I find it very hard that natural rights do not encompass the right of movement, and hence anyone who claims to be conservative cannot be against immigration. Of course, acceptance of any individual other into one's nation is a prudential question, and hence being against illegal immigration is compatible with conservatism.

            Collapse
      2. Avatar photo
        Pat Riot

        As usual, you can only resort to personal attacks in order to "win" your argument. You didn't convince anybody of anything except that you hate some anonymous commenter on the Internet called, "Pat Riot"...

        Collapse
        1. Avatar photo
          PaulH

          Nope. I used facts to explain why you were wrong about both the EU and the US. YOU were the one who responded with a (baseless) personal attack.

          Collapse
          1. Avatar photo
            Pat Riot

            Oh yes, the "fact" that "Pat Riot" is terrible. You should write a book about this subject. You and my five other stalkers here will make it fly off the shelves.

            I like to talk about politics. You like to talk about "Pat Riot". How boring.

            Collapse
  7. Avatar photo
    Francesca

    Would like to see more Pletka at the Dispatch!

    Collapse
  8. Thconnors

    Excellent, well balanced and highly informative. Just what is needed in light of the "hair on fire" coverage from the mainstream media coverage of Meloni (and pretty much everything else that does not conform to left ideological purity). Thank you.

    Collapse
  9. Avatar photo
    BrettH

    Interesting read, thanks Danielle.

    Collapse
  10. Whitaker.Margie

    Good to know.

    Collapse
Load More