site.btaMeloni Certainly Emerges Stronger after This Vote, Italian Analyst Says

In the European elections in Italy, the power-holding right-wing coalition consolidated its position with the party of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni emerging first. Will this make Italy "a protagonist in Europe", as Prime Minister Meloni likes to say? As BTA addressed this question to Federico Castiglioni, an expert at the Institute International Relations, an Italian think-tank, he recalled that the European elections in Italy had a low turnout and should not be seen as an illustration of what would happen in national parliamentary elections. "But the vote has definitely strengthened Meloni's position, he says.

"It should be clear that in this election turnout was lower than usual, fewer voters went to vote and that certainly affected the outcome. When there are fewer voters, those who vote are the most invested whereas those who perhaps don't even follow politics don't go out to vote and that gives a tiny inaccurate picture of the result. That is why we have parties that have achieved higher results than they would have achieved in a national election. Therefore, this European vote does not necessarily reflect what would happen in a national election," Castiglioni told BTA.

"As for the outcome of the vote, you correctly pointed out that the centre-right ruling coalition is establishing itself as the first force in the country. And more or less, the Italian trend is the same as across Europe. That is to say, the centre-right and the right account for around 50% of the vote. That is to say, there is this trend in almost all EU member states. This conservative trend," he adds.

 "As far as the Italian situation is concerned, it is clear that the personal strength of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni becomes even greater because she is the only prime minister in Europe who has managed to increase support for herself during these elections. So, in these elections, not only did she see her party become the first force in Italy, but also won more votes than she did in the national elections. So she is certainly coming out of this election stronger, and even more so because she is also the leader of the European Conservative Group in the European Parliament. Therefore, she is not only the Prime Minister of Italy, but also the leader of the European conservatives, and this gives her a specific personal strength that is very significant," the analyst said.