The already tense campaign for
Sunday's general election has heated up further after Brothers
of Italy (FdI) leader Giorgio Meloni told Spanish agency EFE
that she hopes a victory for the centre-right coalition that her
party is spearheading will pave the way for a triumph by the
far-right Vox group in Spain.
"Vox is truly a neo-fascist party," said Carlo Calenda, the
leader of the Azione party that belongs to the centrist 'Third
Pole'.
"I have never said it would be an alarm for democracy (if the
centre right wins on Sunday), but if Meloni starts saying she
wants Vox in government, tomorrow it'll be Le Pen, Orban and
maybe the AFD, so you have to watch out because these people are
openly fascist".
Enrico Letta, the head of the centre-left Democratic Party (PD),
said he was not surprised by Meloni's endorsement, adding that a
Vox victory in Spain would by a "terrible signal for Europe".
PD Lower House whip Debora Serracchiani said Meloni had "taken
off the mask" by supporting Vox.
Letta has said Italian democracy will be in peril if the
centre-right alliance wins the election, especially if it gains
70% of the seats in parliament and is able to change the
Constitution without a referendum.
He and Meloni had sparred earlier this week when he went to
Berlin and got the endorsement of Germany's Social Democrat
Party (SPD), with SPD Co-leader Lars Klinhgbeil calling FdI a
"post-fascist" party.
Meloni accused of Letta of trying to win the "protection of
foreign powers" rather than the support of the Italian people.
While the PD was a close second to FdI in the polls before a
pre-vote survey blackout kicked in, the centre-right coalition
as a whole had a lead of almost 20 points over the centre-left
bloc.
As a result, Meloni is tipped to become Italy's first woman
premier after the election.
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