Italian PM Meloni gets domestic and European boost with EU election victory

ROME (AP) – Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s far-right party won the European elections in Italy with a strong 28% of the vote, reinforcing its leadership at national level and consolidating its role as a kingmaker in Europe.

Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party confirmed its status as the most popular party in the country, even improving its performance in relation to the 26% it obtained in the 2022 general elections, according to projections by state broadcaster RAI based on almost 70% of votes counted.

Victory in Italy’s vote for European Parliament representatives gives Meloni a boost after nearly two years in power, largely at the expense of his governing partners in Rome.

In particular, Matteo Salvini’s far-right League emerged as one of the biggest losers in the EU vote. After finishing first in the 2019 European elections with more than 34% of the vote, the League obtained just 8.5% this time, behind its former junior ally Forza Italia, which surpassed 9%.

For the opposition, the main center-left Democratic Party received 24.5%, followed by the populist Five Star Movement, which received just 10.5%, a decrease of seven points compared to the 2019 elections.

Meloni, who personalized his electoral campaign by focusing on his personal “brand”, has now positioned himself as one of the most powerful figures in the EU, where far-right parties have made great gains, inflicting impressive defeats on two of the most important leaders in the EU. block. : French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

“I am proud that we are on our way to the G7 and Europe with the strongest government ever,” said Meloni, commenting on the election results at her party headquarters on Monday morning.

She called the result “extraordinary” and promised to use it as “fuel” for the future.

Despite its solid popular support, Meloni’s conservative government needs a strong mandate to deal with the challenges ahead, especially given the fragile state of Italy’s public finances and the prospect of a difficult budget for 2025.

“I think Meloni comes out stronger from these elections, first of all because this is a government that has not lost consensus, which is unique in Europe,” said Giovanni Orsina, director of the government school at LUISS University in Rome.

“Secondly, with the growth of far-right parties, Meloni occupies a central position between the far-right and the European People’s Party,” he added.

Based on the latest projections, Meloni’s party will win 23 to 25 seats in the European Parliament, up from six after the 2019 elections, when it was just a minor opposition party.