We have been warned. The Washington Post on Monday published an editorial board piece that sought to pinpoint all the perceived dangers posed by the rise of Giorgia Meloni to become the next premier of Italy.
The center-right coalition leader is bound for office declaring, “We defend God, country, and family” built on opposition to gender ideology and the LGBT lobby alongside support for strong borders and an end to limitless mass migration.
Such a declaration of principles was enough for the newspaper, which is owned by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, to launch into an attack.
While generously conceding “it would be a stretch to regard Ms. Meloni, who would be Italy’s first female premier, as a fascist,” the determinedly left-wing outlet still found plenty of space to set out its argument that the single mother could be the sum of all fears for Europe.
The Post quickly summoned readers to be wary of her rise, adding to a narrative that had already been aired in media outlets around the world, as Breitbart News reported.
It believes it is not just Meloni but the political company she keeps that should add to the concern:
[…] there remains ample cause for concern about Ms. Meloni, who is set to govern one of the world’s largest economies despite her own modest credentials in government. She is the latest in a string of extremists who have performed well in European elections this year, including nationalists in France, Hungary and Sweden. Her apparent victory is more evidence that far-right leaders are ascendant in a continent buffeted by immigration, economic head winds and, on its eastern flank, the most destructive war in three-quarters of a century.
Her party and its right-wing coalition partners include figures who might threaten free and fair elections if given their druthers; many would emulate Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has gutted key aspects of that country’s democracy. However, Ms. Meloni’s bloc will lack the votes in Italy’s Parliament to tamper with constitutional protections for Italian democratic institutions.
The Brothers of Italy leader is ultimately cast as presenting a “lurking danger” by the Post because the party she leads allegedly challenges “Europe’s ability to withstand Mr. Putin’s attempts to break Western anti-Kremlin sanctions, using Europe’s dependence on Russian energy exports as leverage.”
The newspaper continues to point to Italy’s economy as “chronically anemic, and many Italians will suffer as Moscow’s pressure mounts.”
Somehow being female, Meloni’s strength will be tested by Putin and his cronies, “especially given that one of her coalition partners, Matteo Salvini of the League party, opposes sanctions, and the other, former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, is an apologist for the Russian authoritarian.”
Ultimately the Post calls for wariness, adding the establishment political elites have work to do to stop Italy straying from the straight and narrow of accepted political wisdom, as least as it is perceived in the elite corridors of Washington and Brussels. It concludes:
“Washington, NATO and the E.U. must use their considerable leverage to ensure Ms. Meloni’s spine remains stiff.”