Giorgia Meloni, born 15 January 1977, is an Italian politician and journalist. She has been a member of the Chamber of Deputies since 2006 and has led the Brothers of Italy (FdI) party since 2014. Since 2020, she has served as president of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party. After FdI received the most votes in the 2022 Italian general election, Meloni is expected to become Italy's first female Prime Minister.
Meloni began her political career in 1992 with the Youth Front, the youth wing of the neo-fascist Italian Social Movement (MSI). She later led Student Action, affiliated with the National Alliance (AN), MSI's legal successor. She served as a councillor for the Province of Rome from 1998 to 2002 and was president of Youth Action, AN’s youth wing. Meloni was Minister of Youth from 2008 to 2011 in the Berlusconi IV Cabinet. In 2012, she co-founded FdI and became its president in 2014. She led FdI in opposition during the 18th Italian legislature after the 2018 general election. Her political positions are described as right-wing populist and nationalist; she rejects the "far right" label. Meloni identifies as a Catholic Christian and conservative, opposing abortion, euthanasia, and same-sex marriage and parenting. She criticizes globalism, multiculturalism, and non-Christian migration, supports a naval blockade to halt immigration, and has been accused of xenophobia and Islamophobia. Meloni supports NATO, is critical of China, holds Eurosceptic views described as Eurorealist, and condemned Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine while pledging support for Ukraine. She has expressed controversial views, including praising Mussolini at age 19 and Giorgio Almirante in 2020, though she and her party condemn the fascist regime’s suppression of democracy and racial laws.
Italy
