between Giorgia Meloni and Matteo Salvini, the game of 7 differences

by time news

In a few years, the Italian radical right has changed its face. Matteo Salvini, leader of the League, was overtaken by Giorgia Meloni, president of the post-fascist party Fratelli d’Italia. It is this formation which is given at the top of the voting intentions in the legislative elections which will be held on Sunday 25 September.

Coalition allies center right(“centre-right”), the leaders of the two parties regularly quarrel over certain aspects of their respective programmes. These divisions should not, however, prevent the formation of a common government in the event of victory.

► Two opposing tones

Even before ideas, the rhetoric employed by Giorgia Meloni and Matteo Salvini differs. The president of Fratelli d’Italia has learned the lessons of the fall in popularity of her ally. The populist and anti-elite tone dear to the latter is absent from the speeches of Giorgia Meloni, anxious to avoid excesses.

Similarly, although the latter has publicly admitted her faith, she remains attached to secularism. She does not use religious imagery while her counterpart in the League shows herself with the crucifix around her neck or surrounded by icons of the Virgin Mary.

► Relations with the Kremlin

The war in Ukraine has highlighted differences in foreign policy. Fervent Atlanticist, partisan of maintaining Italy in NATO, Giorgia Meloni is directly opposed to her ally as regards relations with Moscow.

She condemns the invasion from day one. “The data we have tells us that the sanctions are working,” she says. Matteo Salvini maintains that the sanctions against Russia are ineffective.

► Energy crisis

40% dependent on Russia for gas, Italy is experiencing a considerable rise in energy prices. Matteo Salvini advocates a plan of 30 billion euros to appease the effects of the crisis. More straddling the control of the deficit, Giorgia Meloni warned his counterpart: “It’s a choice you never make lightly. It is the debt money that you bequeath to your children and on which you pay interest. »

► The European Union

The two leaders do not hide their distrust of Brussels. “If I win, for Europe, the jokes are over”, warned the forties during a campaign rally. Until recently, his party was also pleading for the exit from the euro.

As for Matteo Salvini, after being silent on the European question (due to the recovery plan of which Italy is the first beneficiary and his support for the Draghi government), he resumed his criticisms of the EU.

► A complicated relationship with France

The Roman is fluent in the language of Molière, which has not prevented her in the past from accusing Paris of having bombed Libya “because it bothered them that Italy had a privileged relationship in the energy sector with Gaddafi, exposing us to migratory chaos”. She also denounced the CFA franc as “a colonial currency”.

Since power seems to be at hand, his criticisms have softened. But unlike Matteo Salvini who openly displays his support for Marine Le Pen, the president of Fratelli d’Italia has not formed an alliance with any French party. She even dismissed Emmanuel Macron and the president of the National Rally back to back in the second round of the 2022 presidential election.

► Zero Immigration

Borders, migrations, security: on these central themes for the far right, Meloni and Salvini speak together. Italy, they say, is overwhelmed by an uncontrollable wave of migration. However, the measures proposed by the two parties differ.

Matteo Salvini is campaigning for the reinstatement of two decrees he imposed when he was interior minister in 2018, closing Italian ports to boats from humanitarian NGOs. Giorgia Meloni is leaning towards a “naval blockade”with a “European military mission, carried out in agreement with the Libyan authorities, to prevent migrant barges from leaving for Italy”.

► Autonomy for the northern regions

Another bone of contention between the two allies of the center right, the question of the power of the Italian regions. It is a hobbyhorse of the League, which was a regionalist party for a long time. His strongman in Veneto, Luca Zaia, demands more autonomy. Giorgia Meloni is a supporter of centralized power in Rome.

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