https://www.dailysabah.com/world/europe/spains-pm-sanchez-calls-for-eu-army-stronger-global-role
Donald Trump hates the centre-left Spanish government of Pedro Sanchez. It has refused to cooperate with Trump's agenda and has pointedly condemned US actions against Iran.
Meloni's Brothers of Italy (FdI) came to power in 2022 primarily because it was the party that refused to be part of Mario Draghi's Unity Government. This was also undoubtedly connected to some of the public anger over Covid and continued immigration.
As a form of punishment and warning, Donald Trump has announced the withdrawal of 5,000 US troops from Germany. It must be recognized this is a symbolic action and means little to nothing as all the systems and infrastructure that are in place will not change. He is frustrated that NATO is not coming to his rescue as the Iran War has not gone according to plan and is generating significant economic trouble at home. Given the mid-term elections are in six months, he's starting to worry. I also would add there's a great deal that's been covered up with regard to US and Israeli losses - that will eventually come out.
There are Chinatowns in most large cities. Growing up I visited the famous district in San Francisco which is certainly impressive. But I was really struck by the Chinatown in Lower Manhattan - so proximate to the old Five Points, the various courthouses, and even Ground Zero, and how it all but overlaps with Little Italy. It caused me to reflect on the nature of these ethnic enclaves and the immigrant experience.
https://cne.news/article/4817-in-italy-antisemitism-seems-to-be-on-the-rise
This kind of conflation of Anti-Zionism and Anti-Semitism has become a self-fulfilling prophecy as seen with the Minneapolis Shooter or in the case (as cited in the article) of the French-Jewish tourists in Italy.
https://www.euractiv.com/section/defence/news/italian-defence-minister-questions-relevance-of-nato/
Meloni has one face for Brussels and Washington, and another that she has revealed in her history. Has she changed? Has she mediated? Has she learned that it's one thing to campaign as an opposition party and another to actually govern? Maybe. The jury is still out.
https://cne.news/article/1753-giorgia-meloni-woman-mother-and-christian
This article proudly proclaims Meloni's roots and ties to the MSI - the Italian Social Movement, the pro-Mussolini party that was founded in the aftermath of the war. The party would splinter in 1995 with one faction merging into Berlusconi's movement and the rest into smaller parties such as the Lega Nord (just Lega today) and the National Alliance (AN) - the party that Meloni cut her teeth in. Her Brothers of Italy (FdI) emerged from the AN, but the Mussolini-based roots are clear not only terms of political-institutional pedigree but ideology.
Meloni's policy has mostly been to tack toward the centre, which has given her great credibility and standing within the EU Establishment. But as the article points out, there's still a very ugly Right-wing side to her domestic policy. Politically it's brilliant as it doesn't allow domestic rivals like Matteo Salvini to outflank her, but I think it's also indicative of her true colours and the nature of her political pedigree.
We all knew that Trump was going to tear NATO apart. After less than a month in office the process has already begun in earnest. I watched coverage of the Vance speech in US media and let's just say they're not covering the real scope and impact of what the vice-president said - let alone the response or the larger context going back to the first Trump administration and before.
https://www.politico.eu/politico-28-class-of-2025/
As expected, Giorgia Meloni is ranked as the most powerful person in Europe. When Angela Merkel stepped down it was Macron's time but he squandered it and was sidelined by his own domestic troubles. Meloni has (in part) triangulated the Right and as such stayed within the fold of the EU Establishment. At the same time her triangulation has allowed her to stay within the sphere of elements far to her Right but most importantly of all - she has successfully shifted the EU itself to the Right. Ursula von der Leyen has embraced Meloni for her own political survival.
Narrative driven political forces willing to play fast and loose with the law inevitably end up with media problems. They don't like being challenged and called out. And there are other times in which such leaders will utilize this constant irritation as an excuse to detract from other pressing problems. So it is with Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni.
This is a case of confused thinking and confused jurisdictions, the result of the institutional mindset that affects the heirs of the Magisterial Reformation.
*This article was written on 13 May, two days before the assassination attempt which is briefly addressed at the conclusion of this piece.
Brussels has another dissident nation on its hands. On the one hand Slovakia is part of the Visegrad Four (V4), a bloc which has long resisted the EU bureaucracy. But this bloc has been fragmented if not shattered by the war in Ukraine. Poland and the Czech Republic are 'all in' with the EU and NATO, while Hungary and now Slovakia dissent. As such the foreign policy of the bloc is at odds with itself.
https://www.politico.eu/article/steve-bannon-rome-right-wing-gladiator-school-populist-nationalists/
In some respects this is a 'nothing' story. In the grand scheme of things it's minor and yet it provides a glimpse, a quick snapshot of the kinds of things that are happening - everywhere and in unexpected places. It also reveals some more information about the larger Trumpite movement and the activities of operatives like Steve Bannon.
As one who has been reading Tolkien since elementary school, and even now enjoys discussing his works with my adult children, I am beset by many emotions when I read something like this. I feel as if someone has hijacked something from my childhood or like a memory has been violated.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67634959
There is an evident reciprocity taking place between Italy's Right-wing coalition government and Brussels. On the one hand, Brussels is moving in the direction of Meloni when it comes to her government's posture toward immigration. Under the guise of the humanitarian concern and anti-smuggling measures, the EU is doing all it can to curb immigration – even to the point of arming and paying North African regimes. We're seeing the same thing in North America with US attempts to curtail immigration in Central America, long before the migrants actually reach the border region.
Golden Dawn, Greece's Neo-Nazi Party has suffered significant
setbacks but it hasn't gone away. The Greek Right (as is the case in several
countries) is in a process of re-organizing, but Italy in particular has become
a rallying point with the current Right-wing coalition in power. Meloni's
Brothers of Italy (Fratelli d'Italia) represent Neo-fascism and with Lega's Salvini,
FDI also has informal ties to political movements like CasaPound and Forza
Nuova – the same folks that consider Golden Dawn to be compatriots and comrades
in arms.
During the height of the refugee crisis in 2015, it looked as
if the Schengen Treaty (which provides open internal borders within the EU) was
ready to collapse. The EU weathered the storm, but there are still tensions –
and in some cases these tensions are fueled by external considerations.
https://evangelicalfocus.com/features/22760/the-harassment-of-italian-evangelical-churches
Some of the events reported here are limited to the city of Rome
as the article acknowledges. I remember back in the 1990's when I spent a fair
bit of time there that Protestant churches couldn't ring bells and so forth –
orders from the Vatican, or so it was said. The Pope does indeed possess a degree
of unofficial leverage within the larger city.
Meloni publically states that she's against Italian
participation in the Beijing-sponsored Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Her administration
has attempted to patch-up differences with EU/NATO members France and with the
Washington Establishment – which has not been always thrilled with the
trajectory of the Italian Right, especially the Salvini-led Lega Party, which
is part of Meloni's coalition.
