Is Giorgia Meloni a far-right firebrand or moderate?

As Giorgia Meloni becomes Italy’s first female premier, the world is watching closely to see whether she will emerge as a firebrand leader of a far-right party with neo-fascist roots or the more moderate right-wing politician who succeeded in capturing 26% of the vote.

Here is a look at some of the issues facing Meloni’s new government, formed of her far-right Brothers of Italy Party, along with the right-wing populist League led by Matteo Salvini and the center-right Forza Italia headed by three-time former premier and media mogul Silvio Berlusconi:

The squeeze facing Italian industry and households will require urgent attention, as concerns grow that astronomically high bills will force business closures and household rationing.

Italy’s Confindustria business lobby has warned that thousands of businesses are at risk as industrial energy costs rose from 8 billion euros ($7.87 billion) in 2019 to 100 billion euros this year.

Meloni has backed a European price cap on Russian gas. Her coalition partner, League leader Matteo Salvini, has pushed for Italy to take on more debt to help households and small- and medium-size business owners that are the backbone of his party’s constituency in the wealthy north.

Italy’s European Union partners will be watching closely to see whether Meloni’s right-wing government will align with a nationalist block, including Hungary and Poland, that has repeatedly attacked EU democratic standards. Meloni has recently signaled Poland as a key ally for Italy in a speech to a Spanish far-right rally, where she also singled out the success of the far-right in Sweden. Meloni also has hinted at a desire to limit the EU’s influence. “We need a braver Europe when it is time to ... respond to big crises and big international scenarios, and a little more humble when it comes to aspects of our daily lives that could be dealt with much better at a national level,’’ she told the VOX party rally. On Friday, Meloni chose as foreign minister Antonio Tajani, a pro-EU politician and former president of the European parliament.

The spiking price of energy, compounded by inflation on household goods, is raising the specter of recession. Official third quarter numbers won’t be in until Oct. 31, but calculations by parliament’s budget office indicates Italy’s economy shrank 0.2% from July-September and a further contraction is forecast for the final quarter.

Meloni is tasked with reducing Italy’s public debt, currently the second-highest in the eurozone at 150% of GDP, while maintaining budget stability.

Also, the right-wing League aims to do away with a 10-year-old pension reform that raised the retirement age. And it will be up to the new government to complete a planned sale of a majority stake in ITA Airways to a US-led consortium.

Meloni’s new finance minister is Giancarlo Giorgetti, one of the most moderate League leaders. He is seen as a likely guarantor of the continuity of the economic strategies of outgoing Premier Mario Draghi, in whose government he served as industry minister. Meloni is also against granting automatic citizenship to children of immigrants born in Italy, and she has harshly criticised economic migrants, calling for a naval blockade to prevent their boats from leaving northern Africa.

As the EU country with the hardest-hit economy due to a draconian 2020 pandemic lockdown, Italy has access to some 220 billion euros in recovery funds from Brussels. Former Premier Mario Draghi secured some 70 billion euros of that total during his tenure, and the new government must ensure Italy gets the rest of the money. Italy and its sluggish bureaucracy has traditionally failed to capture a significant amount of EU funds it has been allocated. The recovery funds are mostly aimed at helping accelerate green transition, improving digitalisation, and infrastructure projects.

Meloni has raised concerns by saying that she may want to redirect funds in line with her government’s priorities, without specifying how these may differ.

Associated Press