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Italy’s Meloni tones down divisive rhetoric of far-right agenda

Since taking office in September, Italy’s far-right Premier Giorgia Meloni has toned down the bombast reflected in the slogans she shouted last year at a rally in Spain for a far-right ally — “ Yes to natural families! No to LGBT lobbies!” But her government and her party’s lawmakers are still pursuing multiple far-right policies, including refusing to allow the names of some same-sex parents’ to be on their children’s birth records, broadening restrictions on surrogate pregnancies and even seeking to ban foreign words from government documents. The Associated Press has the story:

Italy’s Meloni tones down divisive rhetoric of far-right agenda

Newslooks- ROME (AP)

When Giorgia Meloni was running to become Italy’s first far-right head of government of the post-war era, she steeped her winning campaign in the sharply ideological rhetoric of national sovereignty, “traditional families” and fear of migrants.

Since taking office in September, Premier Meloni has toned down the bombast reflected in the slogans she shouted last year at a rally in Spain for a far-right ally — “ Yes to natural families! No to LGBT lobbies!” But her government and her party’s lawmakers are still pursuing multiple far-right policies, including refusing to allow the names of some same-sex parents’ to be on their children’s birth records, broadening restrictions on surrogate pregnancies and even seeking to ban foreign words from government documents.

FILE — Giorgia Meloni holds an Italian flag as she addresses a rally in Rome, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2019. When Giorgia Meloni was running to become Italy’s first far-right head of government since the demise of the country’s fascist dictatorship, she steeped her campaign in ideological touchpoints like national sovereignty and “traditional families.” (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)

Her administration’s fervor now finds expression in policies promoted by ministries and in legislation pushed by lawmakers from her Brothers of Italy party, the political group with neo-fascist roots that she co-founded a decade ago.

Meanwhile, Meloni has largely stayed above the ideological fray, as she did earlier this month during a bitter flap over the role of neo-fascist militants in Italy’s deadliest-ever terror attack — the 1980 bombing of Bologna’s train station.

The names of the 85 dead are enshrined on a plaque in the station that calls them victims of “fascist terrorism.” In a commemorative speech, Italian President Sergio Mattarella noted that the attack’s “neo-fascist matrix” has been established by trial convictions.

Francesco Lollobrigida, Minister of Agriculture, attends a press conference at the end of a cabinet Ministers meeting in Rome, Aug.7, 2023. When Giorgia Meloni was running to become Italy’s first far-right head of government since the demise of the country’s fascist dictatorship, she steeped her campaign in ideological touchpoints like national sovereignty and “traditional families.” (Roberto Monaldo, LaPresse Via AP)

But to the anger of Italy’s left, Meloni’s anniversary statement omitted any mention of the neo-fascist origins behind the bombing. Opposition leaders pointed out that while she was still a lawmaker, Meloni pushed for efforts to determine the masterminds of the attack, seemingly raising questions about the judicial verdicts.

Then a few days after the anniversary, the communications director for the Rome area’s right-wing governor, who won election with Meloni’s support, cast more doubt on whether the bombing was the work of convicted neo-fascist terrorists.

Demonstrators march behind a banner reading: “Bologna doesn’t forget” on the 43rd anniversary of the 1980 train station bombing in this central Italian city, Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023. When Giorgia Meloni was running to become Italy’s first far-right head of government since the demise of the country’s fascist dictatorship, she steeped her campaign in ideological touchpoints like national sovereignty and “traditional families.” (Michele Nucci LaPresse Via AP)

Lazio Gov. Francesco Rocca told reporters that Meloni “wasn’t happy” about the revisionist comments by his communications aide, who has a record of showing sympathy for far-right extremists. But the premier herself avoided making any public comment, and the aide kept his job.

During the campaign, Meloni kept her distance from Benito Mussolini’s dictatorship, declaring that “ the Italian right has handed fascism over to history for decades now.”

But she proudly defends a potent party symbol — a flame in the red, white and green colors of the Italian flag. The flame has its roots in the neo-fascist Italian Social Movement, which was founded by Mussolini nostalgists right after World War II. Brothers of Italy embedded the symbol into its own emblem.

Italian writer Roberto Saviano attends the presentation of his book ‘In mare non esistono taxi’, at the Spazio Forma gallery, in Milan, Italy, Monday, July 1, 2019. When Giorgia Meloni was running to become Italy’s first far-right head of government since the demise of the country’s fascist dictatorship, she steeped her campaign in ideological touchpoints like national sovereignty and “traditional families.” (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Amid the bombing anniversary furor, a front-page cartoon in the Corriere della Sera newspaper depicted an alarmed-looking Meloni as the tricolor flame threatened to scorch her.

In real life, the premier appears politically unscathed by ideological squabbles. Opinion surveys indicate that Brothers of Italy is the most popular party among eligible voters, with polls showing it has close to 30% support. That’s 4 percentage points higher than what the group got in the 2022 election.

Staying above the fray is part of Meloni’s strategy and style, said Columbia University political theory professor Nadia Urbinati.

FILE – Newly appointed culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano arrives at Quirinal presidential palace to be sworn in, Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022. When Giorgia Meloni was running to become Italy’s first far-right head of government since the demise of the country’s fascist dictatorship, she steeped her campaign in ideological touchpoints like national sovereignty and “traditional families.” (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)

In contrast to her right-wing coalition partner, League party leader Matteo Salvini, who daily churns out photos of himself on social media, Meloni “is not everywhere. She doesn’t want to have this kind of populist aura,” Urbinati said in a telephone interview. “But she wants to shape the state according to her ideology.”

Urbinati noted that one of the first moves by Meloni’s government was a crackdown on rave parties and similar gatherings, “based on what they define as anarchy.”

Building on Meloni’s campaign pledge to defend what she called traditional families, the premier’s administration moved to limit recognition of parental rights to only the biological parent in families with same-sex parents.

FILE- This is the scene at the Bologna train station where 79 died following a terrorist bomb blast, Aug. 2, 1980. When Giorgia Meloni was running to become Italy’s first far-right head of government since the demise of the country’s fascist dictatorship, she steeped her campaign in ideological touchpoints like national sovereignty and “traditional families.” (AP Photo, File)

Local offices of the Interior Ministry ordered city halls to stop automatically recording both parents when same-sex couples have children. That left non-biological parents unable to carry out everyday family tasks such as picking up children from school or dealing with pediatricians without written permission from their partners.

Last month, Parliament’s lower chamber also approved widening restrictions on surrogate pregnancy. The bill essentially reintroduced legislation that Meloni, in the previous legislature, had unsuccessfully proposed while an opposition lawmaker.

People walk past a mural by right-wing students movement called “Blocco Studentesco” (Student Block) in downtown Rome, Sunday, Aug. 13 ,2023. When Giorgia Meloni was running to become Italy’s first far-right head of government since the demise of the country’s fascist dictatorship, she steeped her campaign in ideological touchpoints like national sovereignty and “traditional families.” (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Under the bill now working its way through Parliament, it would be a crime for any Italian — in same-sex or heterosexual relationships — to use surrogate maternity abroad. For years, it has been a crime only in Italy, and so far never prosecuted.

Raising Italy’s birthrate, one of the world’s lowest, is a key Meloni political plan. Her minister of agriculture, Francesco Lollobrigida, who is also her brother-in-law, inflamed political debate last spring when he warned in a speech against “ethnic substitution” by migrants.

“Italians are having fewer children — and the reasoning goes — let’s substitute them with someone else,” Lollobrigida said, dismissing any idea that immigrants would be a way to boost the population.

A mural posted outside the shutter of a closed pub reads, “We are the son of a barricade” in downtown Rome, Sunday, Aug. 13 ,2023. When Giorgia Meloni was running to become Italy’s first far-right head of government since the demise of the country’s fascist dictatorship, she steeped her campaign in ideological touchpoints like national sovereignty and “traditional families.” (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

The government plans to spend millions of euros in European Union money to build more day care centers to ease burdens on working parents, but that goal has fallen behind schedule.

Also awaiting action in Parliament is proposed legislation to ban the use of foreign words in government documents and forbid state universities from offering English-only courses. If the bill in “defense of identity” passes, violators would risk fines as high as 100,000 euros ($110,000).

It is an idea reminiscent of Mussolini, whose first moves in power included purging Italian language of foreign words, even on restaurant menus, and establishing stiff fines for violations.

A woman walks past a mural by right wing students movement named “Blocco Studentesco” (Student Block) and reading : Europe, Nation, Revolution in downtown Rome, Sunday, Aug. 13 ,2023. When Giorgia Meloni was running to become Italy’s first far-right head of government since the demise of the country’s fascist dictatorship, she steeped her campaign in ideological touchpoints like national sovereignty and “traditional families.” (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Critics of the proposed ban quickly pointed out that passage would erase part of a title held by a Brothers of Italy senator. Sen. Adolfo Urso, who serves in Meloni’s Cabinet, is minister of enterprises and made in Italy. The last three words of the official title are in English.

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