Meloni seen as moving towards the centre
August 9th, 2023Observers on both sides of the political divide revise their assessment of the right-wing Italian Prime Minister, although what is views as a negative phenomenon for one is seen as a positive sign for the other.
In Magyar Nemzet, Tamás Fricz warns his fellow right-wingers that Giorgia Meloni, long considered a friend and ally of PM Orbán, is ‘drifting towards the globalist forces’. She still represents conservative values, Fricz remarks, but adds however that Ms Meloni ‘humiliated herself’ by resolutely supporting the United States in its stance over the war in Ukraine. The Italian Prime Minister joined the Aspen Institute ‘a globalist Washington think tank’, Fricz writes and concludes that ‘she will most probably be a disappointment for us’.
In Népszava, Tamás Rónay asks whether ‘we can still define Brothers of Italy, Meloni’s party as a populist force’. Ms Meloni is a welcome guest in western capitals as a staunch supporter of Ukraine, he writes. Rónay also mentions France’s Rassemblement Nationale as a far-right movement moving towards the centre. On the other hand, he still considers Germany’s Alternative für Deutschland an unacceptable company among other parliamentary parties. All in all, the left-wing commentator cautions centrist conservatives against allying themselves with populist parties.