Meloni flexes her muscles as Europe braces itself for big elections

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told a rally in Rome that the upcoming European elections are "a referendum between two opposing visions."

"On the one hand an ideological, centralist, nihilistic, increasingly technocratic Europe," said Meloni during a speech to supporters of her far-right Brothers of Italy party.  

"On the other, our Europe, courageous, proud, one that does not forget its roots because they define who we are, they help us to orient ourselves in the darkness of fear."

Unusually for a national leader, Meloni is running as a candidate in the elections that run from Thursday June 6 to Sunday June 9. While she has repeated she has no intention of taking up a seat in the European Parliament, she said she wanted to "ask Italians if they were happy with her work."

Migration and EU reform dominate

Many of the prime minister's supporters, gathered on a sunny day in Rome's Piazza del Popolo, said reforming the EU and migration have been the most crucial issues in this campaign.

"Migration is an important issue because we support controlled migration; we absolutely don't want to help people smugglers. We want people to come here if they have the right to work in Italy," said a man carrying an Italian flag.

"Immigration is not controlled any more; it hasn't been under control for years. For a long time there's been a lot of immigrants," said a woman at the rally.

During the campaign, the opposition Democratic Party has attacked the Meloni government's "hostile" migration policy, arguing that Italy should run search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean Sea.

However, the Democratic Party is lagging behind the Brothers of Italy in the polls by about seven points. Meloni's coalition partners, the right-wing League and Forza Italia parties, have struggled to get out of single digits.

Italy the catalyst

The slogan of Meloni's party in this year's campaign has been "Italy is changing Europe." After the elections, Meloni could find her influence in Brussels significantly enhanced.

The European Conservatives and Reformists group, which Brothers of Italy is part of, is forecast to be the second largest right-wing group in the next European Parliament after the centre-right European People's Party (EPP).

Ursula von der Leyen, a member of the EPP and running to stay on as European Commission President, could have to rely on support from Meloni and her wider group to clinch a fresh mandate.

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