Giorgia Meloni

Giorgia Meloni, the frontrunner in Italy's general election on Sunday, has made no secret of her passion for fantasy author J.R.R. Tolkien, whose classic ...

There she sang along with the far-right band Compagnia dell’Anello (Fellowship of the Ring), whose song “Tomorrow Belongs to Us” was an anthem of MSI’s youth wing. This reading of Tolkien’s work was popular with a far-right youth that felt stifled by the old guard of the MSI and was looking for new inspiration, said Hof. In her early 20s she appeared in chat rooms under the nickname Khy-ri, calling herself the “little dragon of the Undernet (a popular chat platform)” and discussing her passion for fantasy literature – and Tolkien’s works in particular. Similarly, the Hobbits’ sentimental attachment to their unspoiled Shire has been described as a rallying call for xenophobia and the rejection of modernity. Meloni’s frequent references to The Lord of the Rings are no surprise for Paolo Heywood, an anthropologist at Durham University who has researched Italy’s fascist movements. Later that year, she [posed for a magazine profile](https://tolkieniano.blogspot.com/2008/09/tolkien-al-ministero-della-giovent-e-su.html) next to a statue of Gandalf, the bearded wizard who roamed Tolkien’s fictional Middle Earth. In real life, Meloni would dress up as a Hobbit – the diminutive, hairy-footed dwellers of Tolkien’s mythical Middle Earth. True to form, she wrapped up her campaign with a nod to another Tolkien hero, Aragorn, whose fiery battle speech she referenced at her final campaign rally in Rome. Giorgia Meloni, the frontrunner in Italy’s general election on Sunday, has made no secret of her passion for fantasy author J.R.R. The camps ended in 1981, when Meloni was just 4 years old. She and her fellow youth activists would gather at the “sounding of the horn of Boromir (a protagonist of The Lord of The Rings)”. [Meloni](https://www.france24.com/en/tag/giorgia-meloni/) was first elected to cabinet in 2008, becoming Italy’s youngest-ever minister at 31, she vowed she would not be corrupted by the “ring of power” – a reference to the ultimate prize at the heart of Tolkien’s works.

With full results due on Monday, the far-right party leader is set to become Italy's first female prime minister – and a model for nationalist parties across ...

On Ukraine, Meloni has condemned Russia’s invasion and supported sending weapons to the war-torn country, but it remains unclear whether her government will back the eighth round of EU sanctions being discussed in Brussels. It would be like me, at my age, trying to be a footballer like Maradona.” The coalition has said it is not seeking to renegotiate the plan, but would like to make changes. the model is there, and so is the project.” “It feels as if we’re on a rudderless boat,” said Carlo Russo. Meloni has sought to send reassuring messages, but the prospect of her as prime minister is unlikely to be welcomed in Paris or Berlin. Salvini, who has close ties with Le Pen, said he “can’t wait” to resume his policy of blocking migrant rescue ships from entering Italian ports. “She’s really interested in compromising with the EU on economic politics. “This is a sad evening for the country,” Debora Serracchiani, a senior PD lawmaker, told reporters in the party’s first official comment on the result. One of her first messages of congratulations on Sunday night was from Orbán’s political director, Balázs Orbán, who said: “In these difficult times, we need more than ever friends who share a common vision and approach to Europe’s challenges.” Meloni is also allied to Poland’s ruling nationalist Law and Justice party, the anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats and Spain’s far-right Vox party. “It’s going to be a long night, but I wanted to say THANK YOU,” he wrote.

Italy will be led by the most far-right government since the fascist era of Benito Mussolini, early exit polls suggest.

That parliament is scheduled to meet on October 13, at which point the head of state will call on party leaders to decide on the shape of the new government. It is a sad evening for the country,” Debora Serracchiani of the Democratic Party told reporters. Meloni has instead been steadfast in her support for defending Ukraine. Other changes included a younger voting age for the Senate and a reduction in the number of seats to elect – down from 685 seats to 400 in the Senate and from 315 to 200 in the lower House of Parliament. The ultra-conservative Brothers of Italy party looks likely to win between 22 and 26% of the vote, with coalition partners the League, led by Matteo Salvini, taking between 8.5 and 12.5% and Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia scoring between 6 and 8% of the vote. [Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy](http://www.cnn.com/2022/09/23/europe/italy-giorgia-meloni-profile-election-intl-cmd/index.html) party – whose origins lie in post-war fascism – were on track to win between 41 and 45% of the vote in Sunday’s general election, according to data from the Rai exit pollster Piepoli.

ROME—Italians overwhelmingly voted to give power to the most far-right government since Benito Mussolini was thrown out of power and hung from a gas station ...

And even though she is set to become patriarchal Italy’s first female leader—a feat not yet achieved in the U.S.—she is no friend to women. She was appointed as a youth minister in one of Silvio Berlusconi’s early governments, and quietly built up a base. Meloni is very much a creation of one of her biggest supporters, Steve Bannon, who traveled to Rome during the last election campaign in 2018 and headlined her ultra-conservative party conferences. Meloni cut her political chops as a member of fascist ideology Italian Social Movement, formed by Mussolini supporters after his deposition and death. She hates immigrants and, it often seems, women. Plenty, the answer should have been.