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The black wave of Alternative für Deutschland is no longer just a running poll. With 43.8% of the votes, the far right beat the predictions, overwhelmed Saxony-Anhalt and could now have a domino effect in Italy: this is the fear of some sectors of the majority. A risk that worries the prime minister in perspective.
The strategy of Palazzo Chigi
Giorgia Meloni, who so far prefers silence on the elections, at least in official interventions, is starting to weave a web of national initiatives with events concentrated in Italy and a little less abroad. So much so that, barring last-minute surprises, they will also miss the United Nations assembly in New York at the end of September.
The internal and international situation still needs to be studied, it is discussed in majority circles. The risk of an effect of the German vote in our country too, a few months before the political elections, deserves maximum attention and a communication strategy capable of making the work of the government as clear as possible, and therefore clearly visible to Italians, is the reasoning in the upper levels of the Executive. Hence the need for a more constant presence in the country in this delicate phase of the pre-election campaign.
The coalition goes in no particular order
In any case, a few hours after the vote in the Land of the former East Germany which today accounts for 3% of the German population, the government allies in Italy are feeling the pinch. Anxiety is growing over the advance of the former general’s futurists who, encouraged by the good wind of the “cousins” of the AfD, risk influencing schemes and plots for the 2027 policies, whether they are held in spring or autumn, as Matteo Salvini insists.
And beyond Vannacci, on the triumph of Alice Weidel’s movement, the coalition goes in no particular order. Forza Italia and the League remain divided, with the Northern League secretary downplaying things: «On the left they use the words terror, Nazism, fear, black wave or avalanche. It’s called democracy. When people vote they always respect it.” And if today Antonio Tajani is silent, among the centrists the most explicit is Maurizio Lupi: «As far as we are concerned, no electoral outcome can justify openings towards extremist forces», insists the leader of the Moderates.
At the same time, embarrassment prevails within Fratelli d’Italia and many display vigilant caution so as not to emphasise, they say, a regional consultation. “We believe that that vote will be measured on the basis of facts”, says group leader Galeazzo Bignami shortly.
Vannacci’s enthusiasm
It is no coincidence, however, that the most enthusiastic and irrepressible about the success of the AfD is the leader of Futuro Nazionale. “It’s a popular wave,” proclaims the former paratrooper, citing German polls that would prove the vote of the over 60s for the CDU against the young people who have chosen the ultra-right and “change”. Just like Futuro Nazionale, he ventures and concludes: «This is why Futuro Nazionale is also scary». So he mocks those who belittle them: «The faded right-wingers are retreating. The people raise their heads again. And now you continue to call us extremists.”
So much so as to vindicate, for the first time in such a clear way, the validity of his separation from the League, given the lack of “coherence” of his former party, guilty, according to Roberto Vannacci, of now complimenting the AfD after distancing himself from it when he was expelled from the Identity and Democracy group in the European Parliament. «Therefore I am increasingly convinced that I acted correctly in leaving the League», concludes the leader.
Salvini and the internal problems of the League
Words that underline the distance from Salvini, who had not held back his enthusiasm. And without even waiting for the polls to close he had encouraged the victory of the AfD, and then celebrated a “sensational success” which demonstrates that “another Europe is possible”. The next day the comment becomes milder: «In democracy the Germans of Saxony-Anhalt voted and asked for change. Elections are never a problem”, underlining that “the battles on border defense, attention to external interference, stopping the Green deal and security are the same ones that the League carries out”.
A League that continues to have its internal problems. Apart from the ambitions of the “Frondists”, aka the governors of the north and Massimiliano Romeo (number one of the Lombard League, who could risk losing the role of group leader in the Senate), there is the challenge of the former Northern League members ready to take control of the Northern League and its symbol, starting an online signature collection to convene the congress of the old party.