Is Italy the Next Hungary?

Is Italy the Next Hungary?

An EU Wave of White Christian Nationalism

We’ve watched serious, right-wing populist movements rise across Europe, all with deeply racial, ethnic and religious bias at the core. Sometimes gender-issue intolerant as well. Immigration is often the focus, particularly as wars, resource scarcity and climate change are pushing escalating numbers of people to leave their native homes, businesses and farms simply to survive. Back in June, Marine Le Pen’s far-right Rassemblement National made such historic gains in France’s second round parliamentary election so as to deny President Emmanuel Macron a clear majority needed to control the legislative process.

At the core of her platform is and was a powerful anti-immigrant posture, very much reflecting the supremacy of French cultural and religious values. White Christian nationalism. Blaming immigrants and people “not like us” is increasingly good politics and terrible policy, perhaps a terminal infection to democracy itself. But that blame game is growing fast globally.

Poland’s President, Andrzej Duda, and the prevailing Law and Justice Party also reflect this trending European bias against racial, ethnic and religious minorities, particularly immigrants. But Duda’s politics are relatively mild when compared to the policies and practices of Hungary’s PM, Viktor Orbán, whose self-declared illiberalism has hoisted racial, religious and ethnic purity as the primary guiding doctrine in his country. A darling of the American right, Orbán’s repressive extremism has drawn the official wrath of the European Union itself, which declared that “Hungary can no longer be considered a full democracy,” but “an electoral autocracy” in which basic democratic norms aren’t observed. See also my September 22nd blog, To the Viktor Belong the Spoils. White Christian Nationalism.

What is also common to these leaders is also a proclivity either to avoid a hardline or lockstep NATO condemnation of Vladimir Putin… often even supporting the Russian dictator… in addition to their extreme exclusionary beliefs about people not “born” of the home country. “Hungary’s governing party says it wants to poll citizens on whether they support European Union sanctions imposed on Russia over its war in Ukraine … The Fidesz [Orbán’s party] caucus leader, Mate Kocsis, said at a news conference Thursday [9/22] that the party plans to call for a ‘national consultation’ on energy sanctions that he said had been decided on by the EU’s ‘Brussels elite.’” Associated Press, September 24th.

The next nation falling prey to this insidious European MAGA-equivalent is Italy. In a country facing severe economic peril that has been unable to create a stable government in over a decade – there have been seven elected governments in eleven years – right-wing populism is rising again. Indeed, a coalition led by the Brothers of Italy (Fratelli d'Italia) party, reflecting a right-wing movement that had elected radical right-wing Italy Forward (Forza Italia) party Sylvio “bunga bunga” Berlusconi PM three times, just swept Giorgia Meloni into office – Italy’s first female PM. Also the farthest right of any elected Italian leader since WWII. While a center right party slightly moderated her message as part of her 4-party coalition, Meloni’s group won 44% of the vote to take control of Italy’s Senate and the Chamber of Deputies.

She’s been labeled a fascist, an extremist and a de facto heir to 20th century dictator Benito Mussolini… consistent with the White Christian nationalist policies at the core of the alliance between Hitler and Mussolini. While she has criticized Putin, she has also supported his party line. She is way too comfortable with Berlusconi’s recent statements; he’s still a prominent player in national politics.

According to the BBC (September 23rd), Berlusconi recently “said the reporting, pushed by separatist forces and nationalist politicians in the Russian government, had left Mr Putin with no choice but to launch a limited invasion… ‘Putin was pushed by the Russian population, by his party and by his ministers to invent this special operation,’ he said… ‘The troops were supposed to enter, reach Kyiv in a week, replace the Zelensky government with decent people and a week later come back,’ Mr Berlusconi added. Meloni is a radical cut of the same cloth.

Writing for the Associated Press (and set out in the September 23rd Los Angeles Times), Tom Kington and Tracy Wilkinson note: “Traditional democracy is taking hits, from Europe to Asia to the United States, where rogue politicians are whittling away at trust in a democratic system… These trends are fueled, analysts say, by anti-immigrant sentiment, disaffection with traditional politics and general unhappiness with the economy and prospects for the future. In countries such as Italy, there is an easy reach back to a fascist past for historical foundation.

“Meloni, 45, has won backing with her hard-line anti-immigrant positions, a trend in several right-wing political parties making gains in parts of Europe, which has seen the arrival of hundreds of thousands of people fleeing Syria and elsewhere. She was roundly criticized for using in her campaign a video of an immigrant purportedly raping a woman in an Italian city… Promoting what she calls traditional Christian values, Meloni opposes abortion and same-sex marriage and parenting. ‘Yes to the natural family!’ she says at rallies.

“She has pledged to cut taxes and this week [pre-election] said she would put a cap on gas prices, saying she was ready to govern and planned to keep her right-wing coalition together despite some differences. She has attempted to moderate her positions to become more palatable to a broader Italian electorate — though she often switches back to more radical positions.

“‘For the last decade the left has managed to stay in power ... not by winning election ... but through under-the-table deals,’ she said in a video recorded in Italian, English and French to respond to those who would call her a threat to democracy — a narrative, she said, promoted by the left… Supporters describe her as charismatic and sensible.”

Unlike Germany, with uncensored high school textbooks and mandatory visits to concentration camps, which has admitted its guilt, Mussolini was just a nasty blip in Italy’s complex and often checkered past. There is no local universal revulsion against that fascist leader. In fact, Italy has elected several pro-fascist leaders following defeat in WWII. Meloni is only the latest, coming at a time when radical right-wing politics is rapidly infecting democracies the world over, including the United States.

How many of these Western shifts to the autocratic right does it take to wipe democracy from a meaningful position in global governance? Is the same reality happening here in the United States, as GOP values amplify White Christian nationalism? As I watch elected politicians lure asylum seekers, legally in the United States, with false promises, using these migrants as political pawns, as right-wing militia and overt conspiracy theorists champion the autocratic vectors of election deniers, and as our former President continues to poke and goad extremists, I wonder if our democracy will be the next to fall.

I’m Peter Dekom, and if you ever believed that democracy was indestructible, it’s time for you to make a major reset recalculation.