Europe
Elaine Byrne: Rise of far right across Europe creates perfect storm for Putin
Italy, which today is likely to elect its first far-right government since the rule of Mussolini, is only one of several EU states where nationalist parties are gaining ground
Italy goes to the polls today in a historic election that will likely return the first Italian far-right government since the rule of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini a century ago.
The far-right Fratelli d’Italia – Brothers of Italy – is expected to win a majority of the vote with 25 per cent. This is an extraordinary turnaround for Giorgia Meloni’s party, which returned a meagre 4 per cent of the vote in 2018.
Meloni, who ...