Italy has become the most right-wing government since the republic was founded in 1946. The new prime minister Giorgia Meloni from the ultra-right party Fratelli d’Italia (FDI) took the oath of office on Saturday.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) congratulated Meloni on taking office. He is looking forward to “continuing to work closely with Italy in the EU, NATO and G7,” Scholz wrote on Twitter. The congratulatory tweet caused disbelief among a Scholz group colleague. Munich MP Sebastian Roloff only commented: “WTF” (What the fuck, ed.).
Meloni, who describes herself on Twitter as “always, everywhere and first and foremost Italian”, stands for clearly right-wing positions: she wants to ward off migrants – especially from Africa – and strengthen Italy as a nation state within the EU. She wants to crack down on crime and build new prisons. Their maxim is “God, fatherland, family”.
Meloni has had a daughter (Ginevra) since 2016, but is not married to her father. She opposes the right of homosexual couples to adopt children. She also sees no need to protect homosexuals or other minorities more against discrimination. She is against abortion – in her biography, Meloni writes that her mother was about to have an abortion herself when she was pregnant.
Meloni made her way into politics early on. Almost exactly 30 years ago, the then 15-year-old Meloni knocked on a door in Rome. She had decided to get involved in politics. At that time she enrolled in the youth organization of the “Movimento Sociale Italiano” (MSI), a party founded by fascists. Now the woman who also praised Mussolini is Prime Minister of Italy.