海角大神

One year in office, has Italian Premier Meloni proven skeptics wrong?

Giorgia Meloni took office one year ago as Italy鈥檚 first post-war far-right premier. But so far, Ms. Meloni has surprised skeptics. Notably, she has backed NATO support for Ukraine despite running an election campaign 鈥渞aging against Europe.鈥�

First Look

When Giorgia Meloni took office a year ago as the first far-right premier in Italy鈥檚 post-war history, many in Europe worried about the prospect of the country鈥檚 democratic backsliding and resistance to European Union rules.

The European Commission president issued a decidedly undiplomatic warning that Europe had 鈥渢he tools鈥� to deal with any member, including Italy, if things went 鈥渋n a difficult direction.鈥� There were fears in Brussels that Rome could join a strident nationalist bloc, notably Hungary and Poland, in a clash with EU democratic standards.

But since being sworn in, Ms. Meloni, whose Brothers of Italy party has neo-fascist roots, has confounded Western skeptics.

She has steadfastly backed NATO support for Ukraine, especially on military aid for Kyiv against Russia鈥檚 invasion. That鈥檚 no small feat.

Her main governing coalition partners are parties whose leadership was long marked by pro-Russian sympathies 鈥� the League of Matteo Salvini, and Forza Italia, founded by Silvio Berlusconi, the late former premier who was feted at his last birthday with bottles of vodka sent by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The first woman to be Italy鈥檚 premier, Ms. Meloni 鈥渨on out against Salvini and Berlusconi. She showed that she emancipated herself against these two male leaders,鈥欌�� said political analyst Massimo Franco.

While Ms. Meloni ran an election campaign 鈥渞aging against Europe鈥� and 鈥漰romising she would clash with Brussels over budget issues鈥� once in office, she didn鈥檛 do either, noted Tommaso Grossi, a policy analyst for the European Policy Centre, a Brussels-based think tank.

Ms. Meloni鈥檚 first trip abroad as premier was to Brussels. After meeting with the EU鈥檚 most powerful officials, including Commission President Ursula von der Leyen 鈥� who raised the democracy warning 鈥� Ms. Meloni ventured that the encounters probably helped 鈥渄ismantle a narrative about yours truly.鈥�

When Ms. Meloni was hosted at the White House in July by President Joe Biden, the welcome was warm 鈥� reflecting in part her apparent resolve to end Italy鈥檚 participation in a Chinese infrastructure-building initiative known as Belt and Road that has worried the West.

Fears for Italy鈥檚 democracy have proved to be 鈥渆xaggerated,鈥欌�� said Mr. Franco, who noted that Italy鈥檚 president serves as a guarantor of the republic鈥檚 post-war constitution. 鈥淭he real risk for Italy is not authoritarian, it鈥檚 chaos, it鈥檚 an incompetent ruling class.鈥�

In her own words, Ms. Meloni鈥檚 biggest challenge is illegal migration.

鈥淐learly I had hoped to do better on migrants,鈥� she told Italian Rai state TV in an interview marking her year in office. 鈥漈he results weren鈥檛 what we had hoped to see.鈥�

Ms. Meloni had campaigned with an unrealistic 鈥� and unrealized 鈥� promise of a naval blockade of the northern African coasts where migrant smugglers launch overcrowded, unseaworthy vessels toward Italy. By mid-October, the number of migrants arriving by boat has nearly doubled to 140,000 compared to the same period a year ago.

Ms. Von der Leyen stood by Ms. Meloni鈥檚 side in solidarity on the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa, after some 7,000 migrants had stepped ashore there in just over one day last month. She borrowed one of Ms. Meloni鈥檚 favorite lines: 鈥淲e will decide who comes to the European Union, and under what circumstances. Not the smugglers.鈥�

Tunisian and not Libyan shores are now the main launching site for smugglers鈥� boats. Ms. Meloni had lobbied heavily for an EU arrangement with Tunisia that offered the economically struggling country aid in hopes of encouraging a crackdown on the departures, but the agreement is in danger of unraveling.

Ms. Meloni, meanwhile, is feeling the heat from her ally-cum-rival Mr. Salvini, who appears determined to prove he鈥檚 more 鈥渇ar right鈥� of her, notably on migration, ahead of European Parliament elections set for June 2024, when the issue is expected to loom large.

As interior minister in a 2018-2019 populist government, Mr. Salvini kept rescue boats in the Mediterranean waiting days, even weeks, for permission to enter port to disembark migrants.

鈥淲ith Salvini as [interior] minister, all this wasn鈥檛 happening,鈥� said the regional affairs minister, Roberto Calderoli, sniping at Ms. Meloni after she appointed Mr. Salvini her transport minister, not interior minister as he had hoped.

Ms. Meloni criticized Italian judges who have defied a recent Cabinet decree that allows migrants who lost asylum bids and who come from so-called 鈥渟afe鈥� countries 鈥� like Tunisia 鈥� to be put in holding centers for as long as 18 months, pending repatriation. To avoid that, the migrants can pay a deposit of nearly 5,000 euros 鈥� a sum most can鈥檛 afford. Concluding those restrictions violate the Italian Constitution, some judges let the migrants go free.

Ms. Meloni contends the rulings support a long-held belief on the political right that Italy鈥檚 magistrates sympathize with the left.

The premier has had other setbacks. A Cabinet decree targeted banks with a tax on so-called 鈥渆xtra-profits鈥� derived from higher interest rates on mortgages and business loans. But Deputy Premier Antonio Tajani objected, forcing the decree to be rewritten. Mr. Tajani holds the helm of Mr. Berlusconi鈥檚 party, and the media mogul鈥檚 family holds a large stake in an Italian bank.

When Ms. Meloni鈥檚 government sought to solve a shortage of Italy鈥檚 taxis 鈥� acutely felt during a boom in foreign tourists 鈥� by liberalizing issuance of new cab licenses, taxi drivers staged a nationwide 24-hour strike.

鈥淚 see, not a catastrophe, but very bad governance,鈥� Mr. Grossi said in a phone interview from Brussels to evaluate the premier鈥檚 first year.

Her other goals include the protection of Italy鈥檚 鈥渢raditional families;鈥� Ms. Meloni campaigned with thundering cries against 鈥済ender ideology.鈥� Making its way through Parliament, and modeled on a bill Ms. Meloni introduced while an opposition lawmaker, is a proposal to make it a crime for Italians to use surrogate maternity abroad.

Despite Brothers of Italy鈥檚 roots in a party formed by nostalgists for fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, Ms. Meloni has insisted that she doesn鈥檛 hold the 鈥渃ult of fascism.鈥�

After the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel, she went to Rome鈥檚 main synagogue and pledged to defend Jewish citizens against 鈥渆very form of antisemitism.鈥� Jews number fewer than 30,000 in Italy, a nation of some 57 million people.

The head of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, Noemi Di Segni, said she鈥檇 like Ms. Meloni to be clearer about the harm Mussolini caused Jews. 鈥淔or her it should be easy,鈥� Ms. Di Segni said in an interview. 鈥滻t鈥檚 the past.鈥�

There are signs Ms. Meloni鈥檚 perspective on history is evolving. On Monday, the 80th anniversary of the roundup of Jews in Nazi-occupied Rome, Ms. Meloni issued a statement decrying the 鈥渇ascist complicity鈥� in sending 1,259 people from the city 鈥� nearly all would perish 鈥� to Nazi-run death camps.

Since becoming premier, Ms. Meloni has topped surveys of eligible voters, hovering near 30% 鈥� compared to the 26% of votes her party garnered in the 2022 election.

鈥淭he lack of a progressive, strongly pro-European alternative is definitely missing in Italy, and that also, of course, helps Meloni feel more stable,鈥� said Mr. Grossi.

For her second year, Ms. Meloni pledges to work for a constitutional reform to make the premiership directly chosen by voters, in hopes of producing more stable governments. Currently, Italy鈥檚 president asks someone likely able to command a parliamentary majority the task of forming a government.

Since 1946, Italy鈥檚 governments have lasted an average of 361 days.

This story was reported by The Associated Press. AP writer Raf Casert in Brussels contributed to this report.