{"id":24571,"date":"2026-06-14T17:26:53","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T17:26:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/24571\/"},"modified":"2026-06-14T17:26:53","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T17:26:53","slug":"italys-meloni-faces-a-dilemma-as-challenger-il-generale-vannacci-rises-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/24571\/","title":{"rendered":"Italy\u2019s Meloni faces a dilemma as challenger ‘Il Generale’ Vannacci rises"},"content":{"rendered":"

ROME (AP) \u2014 In a packed auditorium in Rome on Sunday, a former Italian army general known to supporters as \u201cIl Generale\u201d rallied followers of his fledgling party, casting himself as an outsider reshaping Italy\u2019s right and challenging Premier Giorgia Meloni<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Roberto Vannacci<\/a> ‘s \u201cNational Future\u201d party is injecting uncertainty into the conservative bloc that has underpinned Meloni\u2019s government, exposing tensions ahead of the 2027 general election.<\/p>\n

Meloni’s party has its roots in fascism and she campaigned as an EU-skeptic, prompting analysts to speculate she would be a hard-line nationalist if elected. Instead, she has been a pragmatic conservative leader with a more moderate, pro-European approach, which also ensured a period of unusually long stability for Italy.<\/p>\n

In early September, if still in office, Meloni will become the longest-serving head of government in the 80-year history of the Italian Republic, surpassing the late Silvio Berlusconi.<\/p>\n

A rival carving out space to her right could test her ability to hold that tack, analysts say. The question is no longer whether Vannacci will influence the vote, but whether Meloni can contain, co-opt or outmaneuver her challenger.<\/p>\n

Vannacci calls his party the \u2018real right\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cWith us, Italy will once again be the home of Italians,\u201d Vannacci said at his party\u2019s founding assembly on Sunday. \u201cEveryone must feel safe in their own home.\u201d<\/p>\n

One day earlier, he proudly described his core lawmakers as the \u201cdirty dozen,\u201d stressing his outsider role.<\/p>\n

Vannacci, 57, emerged politically with his 2023 self-published book \u201cIl mondo al contrario\u201d (The World Upside Down), which drew controversy for harsh attacks on LGBTQ+ people, migrants and minorities.<\/p>\n

He entered politics a year later with Matteo Salvini<\/a> \u2019s anti-migration League, winning more than 530,000 preferences in European Parliament elections. He left the League in February to launch his Futuro Nazionale, a break Salvini called a \u201cbetrayal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since then, Vannacci has consolidated support. The party says it has surpassed 100,000 members and now has eight deputies, including defectors from the League and centrist Forza Italia, underscoring unease within Meloni\u2019s coalition.<\/p>\n

He rejects the traditional \u201cfar-right\u201d label, calling his movement the \u201creal right,\u201d and has accused Meloni of failing to turn shared priorities into policies. He’s for now ruling out a possible alliance.<\/p>\n

Vannacci platform centers on hard-line positions on security and migration, including calls for the \u201cremigration\u201d of foreigners he considers not integrated<\/a>; opposition to EU policies such as the Green Deal; and criticism of Western sanctions on Russia.<\/p>\n

Vannacci\u2019s rise comes as far-right and nationalist parties gain ground across Europe, reshaping the political landscape and focusing on polarizing issues like migration and security.<\/p>\n

A potential wild card<\/p>\n

Analysts say Vannacci’s rise in Italy reflects a political and cultural shift.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is commanding a sort of political raid for hard-right votes within the main parties of the coalition,\u201d said Massimiliano Panarari, politics professor at University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. \u201cMeloni\u2019s strategy was to have no one to her right. Now she does.\u201d<\/p>\n

Panarari described Vannacci as \u201can entrepreneur of fear,\u201d whose rhetoric pushes themes that Meloni can no longer openly embrace in government, like openly anti-gay and anti-feminist positions.<\/p>\n

Lorenzo Pregliasco, political analyst and polling expert at YouTrend, said the development introduces \u201csomething new \u2014 an opposition from the right to the current government.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNow there is a force outside the majority that challenges it on popular issues like migration, security and culture wars,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n

That shift carries electoral weight. Polls give Vannacci’s party single-digit support, but that’s a potentially decisive share when time comes for coalition building, given Italy\u2019s main center-right and center-left blocs are so closely matched.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey could be the difference between finishing ahead or behind,\u201d Pregliasco said, describing Vannacci as a potential wild card.<\/p>\n

Meloni has a tough choice to make<\/p>\n

For Meloni, the dilemma is strategic.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn terms of political debate, he introduces instability on the right,\u201d Pregliasco said. \u201cShe and her allies must decide whether to absorb him into the coalition \u2014 but that would create problems.\u201d<\/p>\n

Addressing parliament earlier this week, Meloni accused Vannacci-aligned lawmakers of undermining the government and favoring the left, while her Brothers of Italy party and centrist allies have ruled out electoral agreements.<\/p>\n

For now, Meloni has avoided direct confrontation, a strategy seen as both calculation and a bet that Vannacci\u2019s momentum may fade.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe issue is what to do with this loose cannon of Vannacci, which could drag the right back toward the far right,\u201d Panarari said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not sure it would benefit Meloni to shift further right before general elections. Her approach will likely be marked by ambiguity and ambivalence, as long as possible.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ROME (AP) \u2014 In a packed auditorium in Rome on Sunday, a former Italian army general known to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24572,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[17021,325,5,16992,16991,3788,16014,17020],"class_list":["post-24571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-italy","tag-fledgling-party","tag-giorgia-meloni","tag-italy","tag-lorenzo-pregliasco","tag-massimiliano-panarari","tag-matteo-salvini","tag-roberto-vannacci","tag-vannacci"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24571"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24571\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}