As expected, right-wing leader Giorgia Meloni triumphed in the recent Italian elections and is poised to become the next PM. Fears of an Italian slide into Hungarian-style “illiberal democracy” – or outright fascism –, however, are wildly overblow, as I explain in this article. Meloni has gone out of her way to express wholehearted support for the European Union, the Euro-Atlantic partnership and NATO, including voting for sending weapons to Ukraine. On all the major issues of the day, there’s every reason to believe that she will toe the establishment’s line. Indeed, the real threat to democracy doesn’t come from Meloni, but from the way in which the EU has constrained Italian policymaking to the point that it no longer matters who wins the elections – a conclusion cleary shared by the record number of Italians who sat out the elections (1 in 3).
Last week I also had a piece out about the devastating consequences the energy crisis is already having on Europe. With the continent looking at years of economic contraction, inflation, deindustrialisation, declining living standards, mass impoverishment, and shortages – and this without taking into account the terrifying prospect of an outright military confrontation with Russia – the question needs to be asked: how can anyone think Europe can survive this without plunging into anarchy?
Finally, in this short article, I look at who could be behing the recent attacks on the Nord Stream pipeline: was the US? Was it Russia? Or some third country? Either way, the event marks a terrifying escalation in the West’s proxy war with Russia.
Thomas Fazi 