Washington Post and the Guardian: After the shock victory of the far-right in Italy, Europe is in danger

The victory of the controversial right-wing leader Georgia Meloni in the legislative elections in Italy has sent shockwaves through Europe and raised fears that Italy could become a factor in weakening the West’s determination to confront Russia’s bloody war in Ukraine, the Washington Post reported.

The newspaper highlighted in its editorial, which was devoted to commenting on the victory of the far-right in the Italian elections, that Italy voted for a new government likely to be led by a prime minister whose party was born from the ashes of Italian fascism in the post-World War II period.

The newspaper said that Meloni’s victory is another evidence – after the good performance of the extreme right in France, Hungary and Sweden – on the rise of the leaders of the far-right in Europe, the old continent swept by the winds of immigration and economic problems and a devastating war in its eastern part.

The Washington Post saw Meloni’s assumption of the premiership in Italy as a watershed event, given the escalation of anti-immigrant rhetoric.

Meloni had previously strongly warned that indigenous Italians were at risk of being “replaced” by immigration, and also sought to develop the idea of ​​imposing a naval blockade to prevent immigrants from reaching to the Italian beaches.

In turn, the British newspaper “The Guardian” devoted its editorial on Monday to commenting on the victory of the far-right in the Italian elections, highlighting that the victory of the radical right in the Italian elections represents a disturbing historical moment in European politics. believed that the victory of Georgia Meloni means that Italy – which is the third largest economy in the euro area and a founding member of the European Union – has become a new beacon of the far-right in Europe.

Added that Meloni had striven throughout the election campaign to distance herself and her party – the Brothers of Italy – from the historical ties that bind it to the Italian social movement, which – after the end of World War II – was established by supporters of the Italian fascist movement’s founder and leader Benito Mussolini.

The Guardian reported that Meloni, who will be the first woman to hold the position of prime minister in Italy, sees that the far right in Italy has witnessed an evolution, and can now be considered a nationalist conservative party on the model of Britain’s Conservative Party.

But the Guardian believes that the most important indicator in the judgment of Meloni’s party is to look at the actions of its close ally Viktor Orban, the far-right prime minister of Hungary, who has developed a form of soft authoritarianism since taking power that he describes as “illiberal democracy”.