San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
FAR-RIGHT LEADER MELONI SWORN IN AS ITALY PREMIER
Nation’s first woman in role will lay out priorities this week
Giorgia Meloni, whose party with neo-fascist roots finished first in recent elections, was sworn in Saturday as Italy’s first far-right premier since the end of World War II, pledging to work to help Europe and the United States with common challenges.
Meloni, 45, recited the oath of office before President Sergio Mattarella, who on Friday formally asked her to form a government. She is the first woman to serve as premier.
Her Brothers of Italy party, which she co-founded in 2012, will rule in coalition with the right-wing League of Matteo Salvini and the conservative Forza Italia headed by former Premier Silvio Berlusconi, whose parties did not perform as well in the country’s Sept. 25 election.
Meloni signed a pledge to be faithful to Italy’s post-war republic, and Mattarella counter-signed it. As head of state, the president serves as guarantor of the Italian Constitution, drafted in the years immediately after the end of World War II and the demise of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.
The 24 ministers in Meloni’s government also were sworn into office in a sumptuous room of the Quirinal Palace.
She will lay out her priorities when she pitches for support in Parliament ahead of confidence votes required of new governments this week.
Those votes could indicate any cracks in the threeparty coalition if any of Berlusconi or Salvini’s lawmakers, perhaps disgruntled by not getting ministries they wanted for their parties, don’t rally behind her.
Meloni’s government replaces one led by Mario Draghi, a former European Central Bank chief who was appointed by Mattarella in 2021 to lead a pandemic national unity coalition. Meloni refused to join that coalition, insisting voters must decide the makeup of their governments.
While campaigning, Meloni insisted that national interests would prevail over European Union policies should there be conflict.
Salvini’s right-wing League party has at times leaned euroskeptic. An admirer of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Salvini has questioned the wisdom of EU sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, arguing that they risk hurting Italian business.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen congratulated Meloni, noting she was the first woman to hold the premiership.
“I count on and look forward to constructive cooperation with the new government on the challenges we face together,” the EU chief said.
Meloni tweeted back that that she was “eager and ready to work with you to strengthen EU resilience towards our common challenges.”
U.S. President Joe Biden, in congratulating Meloni, praised Italy as a “vital NATO ally and close partner as our nations together address shared global challenges.”