ITALY - THE RIGHT TURN?

HELFRIED CARL IN CONVERSATION WITH LORENZ GALLMETZER

ITALY - THE RIGHT TURN?

Following the parliamentary elections on 25 September, Giorgia Meloni is likely to become Italy's first female head of government. A long overdue step forward in terms of equal rights. But the 45-year-old politician from a modest background is not only breaking through the career glass ceiling - she is also breaking a political taboo: around the 100th anniversary of the March on Rome and Benito Mussolini's seizure of power, the leader of an extreme right-wing party wants to form „her“ government of the united right. Even as a professional politician, Meloni called the „Duce“ „the best statesman Italy has ever had“. Her coalition partners Matteo Salvini and Silvio Berlusconi also see anti-fascist commemorations and holidays as „remnants of the communist left that divide Italy“.

Despite many differences, Meloni, Salvini and Berlusconi want to push through a reactionary social policy, with a mixture of neoliberal flat tax cuts and a national sovereigntist-protectionist state in economic policy. In terms of democratic policy, they promise plebiscitary-populist reforms in the direction of an illiberal presidential republic. However, the new government's foreign policy is bound to be tested. Salvini is a Putin supporter and opponent of the West's Ukraine policy. Berlusconi sees Putin's war of aggression as nothing more than a „mistake“ on the part of his „close friend“. Meloni, on the other hand, is in favour of the sanctions and support policies of NATO and the EU. Considering that the 5-Star Party is also against the anti-Putin sanctions, Italy's wavering could lead to a weakening of the entire EU.

Before his fall, Mario Draghi and his stable and pro-European government had been supported by all major parties except Meloni for longer than most observers had thought possible. He remains the most popular political figure in Italy. What then explains this astonishing turn to the right in the country?

Lorenz Gallmetzer is a journalist and author. Born in South Tyrol, he studied Romance languages, history and literature in Vienna and Milan. From 1981 to 2011, he worked for ORF, including as a foreign correspondent in Paris and Washington. Gallmetzer lives as a freelance journalist in Vienna. In 2019, Kremayr&Scheriau published his book „Von Mussolini zu Salvini. Italy as a pioneer of modern national populism“ was published by Kremayr&Scheriau in 2019.

Helfried Carl, Diplomat, is a partner of the company he co-founded in 2019 Innovation in Politics Institute in Vienna. From 2014-2019 he was Austria's ambassador to the Slovak Republic, before that, from 2008-2014, he was head of office and foreign policy advisor to National Council President Barbara Prammer.