According to forecasts, the coalition around Giorgia Meloni’s radical right-wing party Fratelli d’Italia has won the Italian parliamentary elections, provoked mixed reactions in other European countries on Monday.
Some point to populism; others congratulate the leaders of Fratelli d’Italia, Lega and Forza Italia. “Populism always ends in catastrophe,” Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albarés warned.
French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne warned France would be “attentive” to human rights and the right to abortion. However, it sounded utterly different with RN chairman Marine Le Pen. “The Italian people have unquestionable to take their intention into their own hands by electing a patriotic and sovereign government,” the far-right politician wrote on Twitter. She congratulated Meloni and League leader Matteo Salvini “for resisting the threats of the anti-democratic and arrogant European Union”.
“This is a moment of uncertainty, and in moments of uncertainty, populisms always gain in importance, and they always end in the same way: in a catastrophe,” Spain’s foreign minister, José Manuel Albarés, in turn, warned. “Their answer is always the same: let’s shut down and go back to the past,” he said during a person’s breakfast. “They always give simple, short-term answers to problems that are very complex.”
In his view, the victory comes at a time when two models clash in Europe, namely the model of European construction and “that of Vladimir Putin, an authoritarian model in which the political forces in Europe and even in this country are located”, referring to the radical right party Vox. Vox leader Santiago Abascal tweeted that Meloni “has pointed the way to a proud and free Europe of sovereign nations.” He believed that “millions have pinned their hopes on Italy”.
On the other hand, Germany expects Italy to remain very sympathetic to Europe, government spokesman Wolfgang Büchner said on Monday. “Italy is a country that is very sympathetic to Europe, with citizens who are very sympathetic to Europe, and we start from the principle that that will not change,” it said at a press conference.