According to early results from Italy's snap election, a right-wing coalition, led by the Fratelli d'Italia party, had won a majority of the vote.
The alliance, made up of the Fratelli d'Italia party, Matteo Salvini's right-wing Lega party and the center-right party, looks set to claim victory with around 44% of the vote. The Democratic Party won 26.2% of the vote.
The Fratelli d'Italia won 26.2% of the vote, far ahead of its coalition partners Lega and Forza Italia which gained 8% of the vote. The turnout at the election was less than in the previous year.
Giorgia Meloni is likely to become Italy's next prime minister and the country's first female leader as a result of Fratelli d'Italia's success. Since World War II, the most right-wing government in Rome has been led by Mussolini.
Giorgia Meloni said the party would govern for everyone and wouldn't betray the country's trust. She talked about the need to make Italy proud.
How that plays out, especially when it comes to the European Union, is a big question for analysts, who say the coming weeks and months will determine which Meloni will turn up to govern.
Atmosphere during Giorgia Meloni’s rally in Cagliari to launch her campaign for Italy’s next general election at Cagliari on September 02, 2022 in Cagliari, Italy. Italians head to the polls for general elections on September 25, 2022.Europe's right wing, from Marine Le Pen in France to Viktor Orban in Hungary, are hailing the party's win on social media.
Just two weeks after a Swedish general election saw a far-right majority get the largest share of the vote, the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hasn't commented on the win for yet another right-wing group in Europe.
It's not clear how far Meloni will go to take Italy to the right. Mario Draghi resigned as Prime Minister in July after failing to unite the coalition around his economic policies.
"We are dealing with a right-wing coalition and we need to understand what type of right-wing coalition we are dealing with."
Meloni is quite the charmer and everyone believes they have a special relationship with her, but in reality we also know that she is close to Mario Draghi so her ascent to power is a balancing act. She is still talking to her road friends. The question of who is the real Meloni will eventually be presented.
Fratelli d'Italia has experienced a rapid rise in popularity since its founding in 2012 and has chimed with sections of the Italian public concerned by immigration, the economy, jobs and living standards.
Both Fratelli d'Italia and its coalition partner Lega are nationalist parties at their core and have expressed various euroskeptic proposals in the past. Fratelli d'Italia has advocated for a less bureaucratic EU and has championed Italian law in domestic issues.
Italy's Covid recovery funds from the EU are thought to be around 200 billion euros, or $193 billion, in loans and grants, due to rampant inflation and soaring energy bills.
Meloni has softened her past anti-EU rhetoric, but could find it difficult to establish a good relationship with her counterparts in the bloc, according to Ettore Greco.
She will have to find a way to establish a working relationship with the EU on many difficult fields because her coalition and her party have always been in favor of different rules.
There could be some internal divisions within the right-wing coalition.
Pro-Kyiv and pro-sanctions positions are taken by Fratelli d'Italia. Last week, Berlusconi went so far as to praise Putin and his invasion of Ukraine, saying he had installed "decent people" in the country.
The unpredictable nature of this new right-wing coalition is bound to make EU officials nervous and they have already warned Italy not to challenge it too far.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was asked if she had any concerns about the elections in Italy. She said that the EU had tools to deal with crises if relations went in a difficult direction.
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