Notes

The things that I used to do. Giorgia Meloni can seem a little confusing. For years before becoming Italy’s prime minister in 2022, Meloni often used unforgiving far-right rhetoric about migrants and migration—even claiming there was an international conspiracy to replace ethnic Italians with emigrants from Africa. She congratulated Vladimir Putin for “winning” the Russian presidential election in 2018. All around, she fit well the profile of the European populist-right political leader modeled by Hungary’s Viktor Orbán.

Now that she’s in power, however, Meloni has done little to follow up on her anti-immigration rhetoric with anti-immigration policies. She’s continually sided with Ukraine against Russia—even sending weapons to Kyiv. And she’s shown a moderation many, on the left and the right, wouldn’t have expected across other issue areas, as well. What’s she doing?

Today, Leila Simona Talani explores the apparent tensions between Meloni’s words and deeds. Talani says Meloni’s decisions as prime minister are all about keeping the right friends, not making the wrong enemies, and carefully accumulating political power as she goes. And as it’s still early—she’s been prime minister for only two years—it’s still also an open question how the power she might accumulate will reshape her politics and policy decisions.

—Michael Bluhm