Politico has named Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni the most powerful person in Europe.
The publication attributes her influence to the “inability of traditional politicians to resist the growing popularity of the ultranationalist narrative,” while noting her readiness to collaborate with those who share her right-wing views.
Less than a decade ago, the leader of the right-wing party Brothers of Italy went from being a despised ultranationalist fanatic to becoming Italy’s prime minister and establishing herself as a figure that both Brussels and, now, Washington can do business with, writes Politico.
Even after shifting to the center, Meloni, who began her political career as an activist for the youth wing of the neofascist Italian Social Movement and once praised dictator Benito Mussolini as “a good politician who did everything he did for the benefit of Italy,” has emerged at the forefront of a wave that is pulling European politics to the right-wing, according to the article.
