Giorgia Meloni should be celebrating, but a threat is ruining her celebration. After serving 1,413 days as prime minister, she has become the leader of the longest Italian government since Benito Mussolini. In a political landscape accustomed to seeing governments come and go, Meloni’s record surpasses the last government of Silvio Berlusconi, which lasted 1,412 days, two decades ago.
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Although perceived as a triumph, Meloni’s continuity is not guaranteed. Even with relative stability that her predecessors did not experience, and with her party, Brothers of Italy (Fratelli d’Italia), being the largest in the country, a challenger has appeared, not from the center-left opposition, but from the far right.
Her thorn in the side is Roberto Vannacci, a combative ex-paratrooper with direct language, admirer of Vladimir Putin, who wants Italy to end its military support to Ukraine.
Vannacci became known a couple of years ago. His story began in 1991, when he was part of a “Task Force” in Afghanistan and the Italian contingent in Iraq from the Army, where he was commander. Later, between 2016 and 2017, he rose to commander of the Folgore paratrooper brigade. In 2024, coinciding with the European elections, he became Chief of Staff of the Land Operations Forces Command.
The 57-year-old retired general came to prominence in 2023 after self-publishing a book called “The World Upside Down,” filled with racism, homophobia, islamophobia, and antisemitism. The resulting controversy cost him his position in the Army but catapulted him to the top of the bestseller lists. Taking advantage of the wide coverage by the Italian press, he capitalized on that notoriety and, in 2024, was elected MEP for the League, a party he later left to found his own.
“I read his book because I always think you have to know the enemy,” Giulia Pastorella, deputy and vice president of the small centrist party Azione, told The Guardian. “And I thought: this is exactly the kind of things people talk about in the bar. Here we have a military man who actually reflects the worst impulses of people. What’s scary is that I think he’s authentic, and not a PR product,” she commented.
After securing his seat as MEP, he broke with Matteo Salvini – leader of the League, who had brought him into his party hoping to strengthen its populist and far-right profile – in 2026, founding his own group, “National Future,” which with its “futurist events” does not hesitate to reference Italian fascism. In his opinion, Meloni’s government is “too soft,” even with its migration and security policies. He already has eight defectors from government parties – they call themselves “futurists,” one of many nods to the twenties – notes the newspaper El País.
His rise has taken the dispute for leadership of the Italian right to an increasingly ideological ground, with immigration, women’s rights, and the family model as the main battlefronts.
The manifesto recently published by National Future advocates a traditional conception of relations between men and women. Giuseppe Barboni, one of the campaign leaders, summarized the proposal as the recovery of the figure of the “southern man who defends his woman with his life.”
His model of society is something he calls “Mediterranean patriarchy,” which he explains as: “It aims at emphasizing specificities and the formation of strong men, capable of mastering emotions and passions, protecting women and offering themselves for the construction and defense of society.”
According to Filippo Sensi, senator of the opposition Democratic Party, the ex-general is using a markedly masculine conception of leadership to present himself as a more authentic right-wing leader. “As a man, Vannacci feels he is more authentic as a right-wing leader,” he said.
But Vannacci’s proposals are extreme in the Italian context. His manifesto states that “abortion is not a right,” and that the morning-after pill will not be prescribed in outpatient clinics. He advocates banning the appearance of homosexual people on television between 6:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. to prevent children from being exposed to “gender and homosexual” content and also eliminating the crime of femicide and civil unions.
He also proposes introducing military education in schools and that each child entitles their parents to an equal number of votes in elections. The criminal responsibility age for minors would be lowered from 14 to 12 years. He intends to review the current torture regulations because “they present interpretative ambiguities that generate uncertainty and risk of operational paralysis for personnel acting in urgent and dangerous contexts.”
Vannacci also proposes a 22-point “remigration” plan to expel irregular immigrants and foreign citizens who commit crimes. He states that a foreigner will be expelled when their work contract ends, they have no access to any social aid, and doctors examining immigrants will be military personnel because they are not subject “to ideological suggestions contrary to repatriations.”
The program proposes that citizenship be obtained only after 20 years of residence, an Italian exam, and signing “a declaration of assimilation to Greek, Roman, and Christian civilization.” Entry permits to the country will give preference to those coming from “majority Christian countries, whose data show a low inclination to criminality.” The reason is that these foreigners “do not undermine the cultural unity of our country, which today is threatened by a mass Mohammedan invasion” (in reality, the Muslim population in Italy is 4%).
In his manifesto, Vannacci openly questions the evolution towards gender equality. He argues that when patriarchy is dismantled, violence against women increases because men stop feeling responsible for protecting them. To support his argument, he compares the Italian situation with that of Scandinavian countries, where, according to him, feminism is more rooted and higher levels of violence against women are recorded.
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Elisa Ercoli, head of the Italian organization Differenza Donna, rejects that interpretation. In her view, the figures from countries like Sweden also reflect a greater willingness of women to report violence because they trust they will receive help. In Italy, she says, only about 10% of cases are reported. Ercoli accuses the ex-general of trying to attract young people linked to the so-called “manosphere” and of questioning women’s rights protected by the Constitution.
In foreign policy, Vannacci has campaigned to suspend the sending of weapons and financial aid to Ukraine, stating that if he could choose between Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, he would side with the Kremlin leader.
His stance towards Moscow is so conciliatory and benevolent that, according to political analyst Teresa Coratella of the European Council on Foreign Relations, who spoke to The Telegraph, Vannacci represents “a Trojan horse for Russian influence in Italy.” “He is an admirer of authoritarian leaders like Putin and shows marked anti-Americanism,” Coratella noted. “In Italy, he is one of the most vocal defenders of ending the war,” she says.
In July, Vannacci organized a “Futurist Triathlon” in the coastal town of Sanremo, presented as an event to “temper the mind and body,” evoking the aesthetics and themes of Mussolini’s fascist era.
Since its launch in February, Roberto Vannacci’s far-right party, National Future, has seen its voting intention rise to nearly 8% in polls. Months ago, it surpassed his former League colleagues (5.7%) and in the last week has also eclipsed Forza Italia (7.1%), Meloni’s two coalition partners. That is, it would be the second right-wing party behind Brothers of Italy, which has 26.8% support, according to SWG.
This implies that Giorgia Meloni could be forced to form an alliance with Vannacci to counter the center-left opposition, either before the 2027 elections or immediately after. “If National Future continues to grow at this rate, Vannacci could easily reach 13% or 14% by the time the elections are held. That would naturally mean Meloni would have to seriously consider an alliance with him. She needs a strong ally if she wants to win,” Coratella said.
Meloni could try to incorporate him into her coalition in the future, but there are significant differences, especially regarding gender violence. The ex-general promises to repeal a law strongly supported by Meloni last year that toughens penalties for men convicted of murdering women, including former partners.
The ex-military man considers that legislation discriminatory and even questions the concept of femicide. He also claims that a quarter of femicides in Italy are committed by foreigners, despite them representing approximately 9% of the population, and uses that data to defend his “remigration” policy, aimed at promoting the departure of immigrants already living in the country.
Democratic Party deputy Valentina Ghio calls his arguments “delirious and irresponsible.” Italy records about a hundred femicides a year, she points out, and needs education that moves in the opposite direction to that defended by the ex-general.
“Vannacci offers ideal solutions that attract those looking for more, and he is right. His ideas address the core of the debate, and we are seeing people from our party and the League joining it,” said Giuseppe Vittoria, 62, member of Brothers of Italy and security professional in Sorrento. “To win as a coalition, you have to add up the votes. For us, not joining him would be self-castration,” he added.
With the possibility that elections could be held as early as April or May 2027, time is running out for the prime minister. In recent weeks, she has resumed a hardline rhetoric, especially in her reaction to the massive arrival of immigrants from Morocco to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in North Africa. She is also trying to pass a very controversial electoral law that would grant a majority bonus to any alliance that obtains more than 42% of the votes. According to its detractors, this measure seeks to increase the chances of victory for her own political group.
Vannacci, for his part, revels in a hyper-masculine imagery. In a video that attracted much attention and was posted on Instagram at the end of July, he portrayed himself as a Roman general, standing on the Colosseum, ordering the execution of Elly Schlein, secretary general of the center-left Democratic Party, and Giuseppe Conte, leader of the Five Star Movement, among other opposition figures, all tied on the arena floor. An armed legionary approaches, wielding a sickle and hammer, before massacring them off-camera. In the stands, Meloni watches silently, notes the newspaper Le Monde.
According to Alessandra Sardoni, parliamentary correspondent for the independent TV channel La7, Vannacci will be the big unknown in the elections. The Italian electorate tends to always look for something new, someone not marked by government experience. This, obviously, benefits Vannacci.”
“Everything is very unpredictable. That’s why Meloni is being very cautious. She wants to see how Vannacci does in the coming months. And she is also closely following the situation in Europe. Other important elections are coming,” Coratella said.
“If (Marine) Le Pen wins in France and the Law and Justice party wins in Poland, the European political landscape will change completely,” she warned.
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