report<\/a> profiling 13 far-right hate and extremist groups in Italy, including Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni\u2019s and Salvini\u2019s parties, both government parties. The report described Brothers of Italy as \u201cWhite Nationalist, Anti-Immigrant, Anti-LGBTQ+, Anti-Muslim and the League as Anti-Woman, Anti-Immigrant, Anti-LGBTQ+, Anti-Roma and Anti-Muslim. It also expressed concern that major political parties in Italy are spreading the same hateful and polarising messages as more hardcore groups.<\/p>\nHowever, for the right-wing extremist area of Italian politics, this is not enough. Thus, Vannacci claims to represent the \u201creal right\u201d and patriotic force in Italy, directly challenging Meloni.<\/p>\n
Vannacci, 57, gained political attention with his controversial 2023 book \u201cIl mondo al contrario\u201d (The World Upside Down), which attacked LGBTQ+ individuals, migrants, and minorities. The fame this book earned led Salvini to include his author on the League\u2019s list for the 2024 European elections, where he received over 530,000 votes. <\/p>\n
Although Salvini promoted him inside his party, even appointing him deputy secretary of the League in May 2025, Vannacci\u2019s ambitions were broader. By Autumn 2025, rumours suggested that the former general had a completely different personal agenda from the one Salvini had designed for him. As a deputy secretary of Salvini\u2019s party, he pushed his own men onto the lists for the 2025 municipal elections, creating a support network with elected officials in local and regional administrations across the country. He left the League in February 2026 to launch his Futuro Nazionale.<\/p>\n
Since then, Vannacci has consolidated support. The party says it has surpassed 140,000 members and now has eight deputies, including defectors from the League and centrist Forza Italia, underscoring unease within Meloni\u2019s coalition.<\/p>\n
Targeting M5S constituency<\/p>\n
When Vannacci announced the creation of his political party in February, Giuseppe Conte, the leader of the Five Star Movement and a former Prime Minister, was among the first political leaders to react against this new political contender. <\/p>\n
In fact, there are several similarities between the rhetoric used by both politicians. Conte refuses any help to Ukraine and is pro-Russian, like the general. Of course, Russophilia is also expressed by Salvini\u2019s League and the green-leftist AVS. Conte\u2019s recent comments about NATO and Italy\u2019s membership were also ambiguous. <\/p>\n
What is more, the M5S was created in 2013 as an \u201cantisystemic\u201d party adopting a right-wing populist rhetoric. However, under Conte\u2019s leadership, the movement moved towards centrist positions, leaving an unknown number of disillusioned voters. These voters are now targets of Vannacci\u2019s FN.<\/p>\n
Tensions rose between Vannacci and Conte when, on 9 August,\u00a0\u00a0Luca Sforzini, President of the far-right think tank \u201cRinascimento Nazionale,\u201d linked to the FN, sent a letter to M5S founder Beppe Grillo, suggesting common ground for dialogue between the early M5S and the FN.<\/p>\n
Vannacci is focusing on disillusioned M5S voters. While Grillo has distanced himself from Conte, he still represents the anti-establishment sentiment from 2013. <\/p>\n
Sforzini\u2019s letter aims to reach those who once viewed the M5S as a tool for rebellion against established politics but feel disconnected from Conte\u2019s leadership. The conflict between Grillo and the current M5S president has enabled Futuro Nazionale to emerge as a new player in the anti-establishment protest movement.<\/p>\n
The war between Russia and Ukraine highlights a shared vision among Sforzini, Grillo, and parts of the Five Star Movement regarding military aid. Vannacci aims to attract the pro-Russian Right, non-voters, and former Grillo supporters.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
How National Future intends to make politics<\/p>\n
In July, an AI-generated video, inspired by Trump\u2019s similar actions and posted on Vannacci\u2019s social media account, revealed how Vannacci intends to run his electoral campaign.<\/p>\n
In this video, Vannacci appears dressed in the imperial garb of ancient Rome; seated between Giorgia Meloni and Ignazio La Russa, the President of the Italian Senate, he is ready to send Elly Schlein, the leader of the Democratic Party, Giuseppe Conte, Laura Boldrini, a former politician, and former President of the European Commission Romano Prodi to their deaths with a simple thumbs-down gesture. He does so to the acclaim of a crowd eager for just that moment. Yet, it is not the lions\u2014pawing the ground in anticipation\u2014who will execute the \u201copponents.\u201d Still, rather, Giuseppe Barboni, the FN militant who, armed with a hammer and sickle, assaulted an Iraqi immigrant in July in San Benedetto del Tronto. <\/p>\n
Vannacci\u2019s platform centres on hard-line positions on security and migration, including calls for the \u201cremigration\u201d of foreigners he considers not integrated, opposition to EU policies such as the Green Deal, openly anti-gay, anti-feminist and anti-abortion positions and plans to create separate classes for intellectually disabled students. Vannacci, who served as military attach\u00e9 in Moscow between 2020 and 2022, opposes Western sanctions on Russia and expresses sympathy for Vladimir Putin.<\/p>\n
Current polls give Futuro Nazionale single-digit support, but it has potential that other parties don\u2019t. Recent polls indicate that Brothers of Italy has 27% support, while its government partners, League, Forza Italia, and Noi Moderati, have 6%, 8%, and 1.1%, respectively. If we consider that the newborn National Future attracts about 7% of the vote, the picture is rather concerning for the government coalition parties. On the other hand, polls give the M5S only 12.7% support.<\/p>\n
To heighten concerns, a poll measuring preferences regarding political leaders found Vannacci among the five most trusted party leaders, alongside Meloni, Elly Schlein, Antonio Tajani, the leader of Forza Italia and Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Conte. \u00a0<\/p>\n
What Vannacci can cause to Italy\u2019s political system<\/p>\n
Although the reactions of both Meloni and Salvini to the announcement of the establishment of the National Future were initially weak, the two far-right parties feel the potential electoral damage such a new political force could cause. <\/p>\n
In July, Meloni accused Vannacci-aligned lawmakers of undermining the government and backing left-wing policies. Her party, Brothers of Italy, and its allies have ruled out electoral agreements. Currently, Meloni is avoiding confrontation. Salvini called Vannacci\u2019s split a \u201cbetrayal\u201d and is downplaying the FN\u2019s political impact.<\/p>\n
It is still early to assess the FN\u2019s impact when Italians go to the polls, after quite a year and a half. The rise of the FN could push Meloni to harden its policies at the national and international levels. However, such a shift towards more \u201crightist\u201d politics could damage the image of a severe yet moderate conservative leader that the prime minister so hard tries to build. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Earlier or later, the most threatening leaders, Meloni, Salvini and Conte, would be forced by the events to respond to Vannacci\u2019s offence. Salvini and Conte risk losing part of their supporters, a fact that could limit their negotiating power in future government coalitions. Meloni could face the challenge of being unable to form a government.<\/p>\n
Vannacci\u2019s Russophilia, his admiration for Trump and the conflict between the US president and Prime Minister Meloni suggest that, from now on, Italy will be a target of disinformation efforts, hybrid attacks and political interference. If Vannacci increases his party\u2019s support, Italy will also risk its stability. \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The emergence of a new political party in Italy in February 2026 caused turmoil in the national political…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":40642,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[26666,26667,26668,26669,26670,469,26671,1092,26672,319,321,25033,26673,3668,13699,3366,26674,26675,26676,1090,325,26677,326,26678,26679,26680,2261,5,12875,910,26681,26682,3788,26683,16013,16049,26684,26685,16014,26686,26687,26688,4038,10033,26689],"class_list":["post-40641","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-italy","tag-anti-abortion","tag-anti-establishment","tag-anti-feminist","tag-anti-lgbti","tag-anti-nato","tag-antonio-tajani","tag-beppe-grillo","tag-brothers-of-italy","tag-disinformation","tag-donald-trump","tag-elly-schlein","tag-eu-sanctions","tag-europe-of-sovereign-nations-group","tag-european-parliament","tag-extremism","tag-far-right","tag-fear","tag-five-star-movement","tag-foreign-interference","tag-forza-italia","tag-giorgia-meloni","tag-giuseppe-barboni","tag-giuseppe-conte","tag-gpahe","tag-hate","tag-hybrid-attacks","tag-ignazio-la-russa","tag-italy","tag-laura-boldrini","tag-league","tag-luca-sforzini","tag-m5s","tag-matteo-salvini","tag-maurizio-lupi","tag-national-future","tag-nato-membership","tag-racism","tag-re-emigration","tag-roberto-vannacci","tag-roma-rights","tag-romano-prodi","tag-russophilia","tag-stability","tag-vladimir-putin","tag-xenophobia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40641","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=40641"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40641\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}