“Giorgia Meloni has a pragmatic migration policy”

How do you analyse the figure of Giorgia Meloni?

If we were to draw a parallel with France, its ideological profile would fit perfectly with the software of billionaire Vincent Bolloré. It is liberal on the economic level, conservative on the societal aspect and pro-NATO when it comes to international affairs.

Is she far right?

She did all her political training in the Youth of the Italian Social Movement (MSI), a neo-fascist party dissolved in 1995. The term extreme right corresponded to her political ancestors but, as the splits took place, the parties that resulted from them, such as Fratelli d’Italia in 2012, migrated to the conservative right. Today, it is wrong to consider Giorgia Meloni as pursuing an extreme right-wing policy. On the other hand, she has formed an alliance with this political tendency in the context of her coalition with Matteo Salvini’s Lega (the League).

What about its goal of drastically reducing immigration?

Giorgia Meloni came up against the wall of reality when she came to power. On the other hand, she was able to limit the flow of illegal migrants from Libya and Tunisia. Her migration policy is built on pragmatism, she makes agreements with the countries of departure, Tunisia and Egypt, so that they prevent boats from setting off from their coasts in exchange for development aid. In Albania, detention centers, financed by Rome, will house refugees rescued in Italian waters, while their asylum applications are examined.

What is its popularity based on?

Her two coalition partners are weakened. By placing herself in the centre, she appears as a guarantee of stability in the eyes of Italians accustomed to the volatility of governments, the latter rarely lasting more than two years.

What parallel can we draw with the National Rally?

Giorgia Meloni has achieved the “union of the right”, which is not the objective of the RN for the moment. According to her, the left-right political divide prevails over the divide between the people and the elites, unlike populist parties like the RN. Despite its increasing normalization in the French political space, the latter remains a family party attached to the history of the Le Pen family, it has not yet completely transformed.

And on a European scale?

The RN sits in Parliament with the Patriots for Europe, a far-right group chaired by Jordan Bardella and founded by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Fratelli d’Italia sits in the same group as the European Conservatives and Reformists, the conservative right. The two parties also differ in their position on Russian aggression in Ukraine. Giorgia Meloni gives Kiev unwavering support