Fascism is history, says Italy’s far-right leader

Fascism is history, Italy’s far-right leader Giorgia Meloni declared on Wednesday in a video message aimed at international critics alarmed by her predicted victory in the Sept. 25 elections.

The 45-year-old, whose Brothers of Italy party leads opinion polls, recorded a monologue in English, Spanish and French denouncing “the left” and defending their fight for “stability, freedom and prosperity for Italy”.

“I read that the victory of the Fratelli d’Italia in the September elections would mean a catastrophe, leading to an authoritarian turn, Italy’s exit from the euro and other nonsense of that kind. None of this is true,” she said in the video sent to international journalists.

She also condemned as “absurd” the notion that she would jeopardize sweeping structural reforms agreed with the European Union in exchange for billions of euros in post-pandemic recovery funds.

Founded by Meloni in 2012, the Brothers of Italy are a political offshoot of the Italian Social Movement (MSI), founded after World War II by supporters of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.

But she insisted in her video: “The Italian right has consigned fascism to history for decades and unequivocally condemned the suppression of democracy and the shameful anti-Jewish laws.”

The Brothers of Italy were the only main party not to join the national unity government formed by Prime Minister Mario Draghi in February 2021 – and have since seen their poll numbers surge.

Since the collapse of the coalition and Draghi’s resignation last month, she has been in pole position with around 23 percent of the vote.

Meloni has agreed an alliance to form a government with Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia and Matteo Salvini’s anti-immigration League, but reiterated this week that she plans to become prime minister if her party takes the lead.

Her rise has led to a series of negative headlines at home and abroad, which her team is beginning to respond to, including an interview with Fox News in English last month.

Meloni emphasizes her Christian and family values, advocates for more defense spending, lower taxes and an end to mass immigration.

In her video, she says the “Italian Conservatives” she leads are “a bastion of freedom and a defense of Western values.”

While she supports the EU’s harsh response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, she is extremely critical of the bloc and has ties to Spain’s Vox and Poland’s Law and Justice party.

In her video, she emphasized “shared values” with the British Conservatives, the US Republicans and the Israeli Likud.