Meloni comes in for harsh criticism in Time article.
Italian premier Giorgia Meloni has been immortalised on the cover of the latest edition of Time magazine and is the focus of the lead article in the influential publication.
Titled Where Giorgia Meloni Is Leading Europe, the article hails Italy’s prime minister as “one of Europe’s most interesting figures” who has “confounded her critics” since coming to power in October 2022.
Several members of Meloni’s right-wing Fratelli d’Italia were quick to rejoice in these seemingly positive soundbytes, notes the left-wing Italian newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano, adding that “they likely haven’t read the entire article, which is not without its own harsh criticism”.
Written by Time‘s Washington bureau chief Massimo Calabresi following an interview with Meloni last month, the lengthy article reconstructs Meloni’s political career and background, along with the various “contradictions” of her agenda.
“Meloni is constructing a new kind of nationalism: populist, nativist, and pro-Western, but committed to European and Atlantic alliances”, Calabresi states, underlining the premier’s candour, grit and direct style.
“On the international stage, she has behaved less like a right-wing revolutionary than a pragmatic conservative” – Calabresi writes – “Meloni has embraced the European Union, NATO, and Ukraine, worked to isolate China, and labored deftly to reconcile the fractious relationships between America and Europe during the start of President Donald Trump’s second term.”
However the article also cites critics who say that after having established “a moderate reputation at the start” Meloni is “tacking back to the right now that Trump is in power”.
This approach includes taking “small but familiar steps to erode democracy and paving the way for a rising international alliance of right-wing extremists that threatens postwar European liberalism”, according to the article.
The article outlines Meloni’s attempts to expand the prime minister’s powers as well as pushing through a security bill to curtail certain types of protests, outlawing surrogacy, taking legal action against members of the media, and cracking down on illegal immigration.
Calabresi also notes that since becoming premier Meloni has won over leaders from across the ideological spectrum, from former US president Joe Biden to European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and US vice president JD Vance.
