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The normalisation of neofascism in Italy appears complete with Meloni poised to win power. Part of how this came about lies with an international political party: the European Conservatives and Reformists.

New

episode with

@ValerioA_Bruno

How Europe Helped Normalise Giorgia Meloni - EU Scream

Praising Mussolini | Lauding Putin | Russian influence | Airbrushing Meloni | European Conservatives and Reformists | CPAC and Trumpists | Berlusconi's toxic heritage | Vox and Spain's ultraconserv...

7:52 PM · Sep 22, 2022Twitter for Android

Replying to

The ECR party has a significant representation in the European Parliament and a powerful international network — and it has branding that's disarmingly centrist. Meloni has been ECR president since Sept 2020.

ECR Party - ECR Party

Europe stands at a crossroads and the ECR Party’s agenda for reform has never been more relevant than it is today. Join our movement, and help us advance a

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Conservatism. Reform. Democracy. The ECR sounds safe, mainstream and electable. Meloni's messaging has focused heavily on her affiliation with the party.

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Meloni also has used the ECR's mainstream conservative branding as a kind of cloaking mechanism that's given her a "double benefit," says Valerio Alfonso Bruno of Centre for Analysis of the Radical Right who's writing a book on the Brothers of Italy.

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The ECR does have a history of centre-right conservatism. Its MEPs at the European Parliament formerly included the British Conservatives. But these days it's run by parties including the Brothers of Italy and the Sweden Democrats that are steeped in a neofascist heritage.

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Other ECR members like Vox of Spain are anti-feminist and Islamophobic. The Polish Law & Justice party vilifies LGBT+ people and has effectively banned abortion.

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That makes Meloni's tilt at Italy's top job a cautionary tale about how Europe's alt-right and neofascist parties have been able to use European politics as one of their reputational laundromats.

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So what's to worry? The markets, the ECB, Italy's constitutional order, Rome's need for EU cash will act as strong disciplining factors on Meloni. Large swathes of the punditocracy have been borderline blasé about the prospect of Meloni as Italy's PM.

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Yet Meloni's done little to renounce her past. She was sweet on Putin and opposed sanctions long after he annexed Crimea. She's also continued demagogic broadsides against the EU and civil rights. So it's worth bearing in mind one takeaway from the unfolding alt-right era:

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Listen to what these people say they're gonna do. Because that's exactly what they're gonna try to do. Even as the far right rushes to follow in Trump's and Orban's footsteps, there seems a tendency to believe they can't or won't be as extreme as Trump and Orban.

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Meloni makes clear she plans to weaken the EU and join forces with likeminded leaders to curtail civil rights. Those goals comes through in her autobiography and in speeches she's made this year to CPAC in Orlando and Vox in Spain.

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One question is whether Europe's liberals and more traditional conservatives will stand up to Meloni on civil rights if necessary. My guess: they probably won't — as long as she keeps backing NATO and abiding by her change of heart on Russia and Putin.

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R. Daniel Kelemen

@rdanielkelemen

Replying to

@ValerioA_Bruno

and

Sounds familiar

Quote Tweet

R. Daniel Kelemen

@rdanielkelemen

· Feb 27, 2020

Just out in @jepp_journal - "The European Union's authoritarian equilibrium" - my article explaining why autocratic member governments like Orbán's can endure so comfortably within the EU. Warning to fellow Europhiles: it is a very depressing read tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.10 1/12

Show this thread

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Valerio Alfonso Bruno

@ValerioA_Bruno

Thank you, that looks very interesting

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