Far-Right party Brothers of Italy's leader Giorgia Meloni reacts at her party's electoral headquarters in Rome, on Sept. 25, 2022.
Far-Right party Brothers of Italy's leader Giorgia Meloni reacts at her party's electoral headquarters in Rome, on Sept. 25, 2022. A party with neo-fascist roots, the Brothers of Italy, won the most votes in Italy's national elections, looking set to deliver the country's first far-right-led government since the Second World War and make its leader, Giorgia Meloni, Italy's first woman premier, near-final results showed Monday.
Meloni, whose party traces its origins to the postwar, neo-fascist Italian Social Movement, tried to sound a unifying tone in a victory speech early Monday, noting that Italians had finally been able to determine their leaders. A Meloni-led government is largely expected to follow Italy's current foreign policy, including her pro-NATO stance and strong support for supplying Ukraine with weapons to defend against Russia's invasion, even as her coalition allies stake a slightly different tone.
Salvini acknowledged the League was punished for its governing alliances with the 5-Stars and then Draghi, but said: "It's a good day for Italy because it has five years of stability ahead of it." French far-right leader Marine Le Pen praised Meloni for having "resisted the threats of an anti-democratic and arrogant European Union."