The far-right party led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni won the European elections in Italy with a strong 28 per cent of the votes, strengthening her leadership at home and solidifying her influential role in Europe. Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party confirmed its status as the country’s most popular party, even improving its performance from the 26 per cent it won in the 2022 general elections, according to projections by state broadcaster RAI based on almost 70 per cent of votes counted.
The victory in Italy’s voting for European Parliament representatives provides a boost for Meloni, after almost two years in power, mainly at the expense of her governing partners in Rome. Conversely, Matteo Salvini’s hard-right League emerged as one of the biggest losers in the EU vote. After finishing first in the 2019 EU election with more than 34 per cent of the vote, the League secured just 8.5 per cent this time, trailing behind its once junior ally, Forza Italia, which garnered over 9 per cent.
On the opposition side, the main centre-left Democratic Party received 24.5 per cent, followed by the populist Five Star Movement, which only secured 10.5 per cent, a seven-point decrease from the 2019 election.
With her personalized electoral campaign, Meloni has now positioned herself as one of the most powerful figures in the EU, where far-right parties made significant gains, dealing stunning defeats to two of the bloc’s most important leaders: French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
“I’m proud that we are heading to the G7 and to Europe with the strongest government of all,” Meloni said, commenting on the electoral results at her party’s headquarters early Monday. She called the outcome “extraordinary” and pledged to use it as “fuel” for the future.
