Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s nationalist Brothers of Italy (FdI) party has finished first in the European Parliament elections, winning 26-30% of the vote, according to a forecast by national public broadcaster Rai.
If confirmed, this would represent an increase of around 20 percentage points compared to the 2019 European elections, putting the party ahead of everyone else on the left and right of the political spectrum.
According to the forecast, a left-wing alliance led by the center-left Democratic Party (PD) under opposition leader Elly Schlein will come in second place, with 21 to 25% of the votes.
Meloni was the so-called leading candidate for the FdI, which has its roots in Italy’s post-fascist movement. However, she does not want to take a seat in the European Parliament and prefers to remain in Rome as prime minister.
The 47-year-old has led a coalition of three right-wing parties since October 2022. Sunday’s result is expected to give her significant influence at European level – including over Ursula von der Leyen’s future as president of the European Commission.
In the 2019 European elections, the FdI, still in opposition, won only 6.4% of the vote.
Sunday’s expected result consolidates the power of Meloni’s party as by far the strongest member of the ruling right-wing coalition. The two smaller partners, Forza Italia – founded by the late former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi – and Lega, led by Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, would win 8.5-10.5% and 8-10% respectively.
The result for the FdI, if confirmed, is also a slight improvement on the last domestic parliamentary election, when they won 26% of the vote.
Former Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte’s left-wing populist Five Star Movement is expected to win between 10% and 14%. The Greens and Left Alliance achieved 5-7%.
There are a total of 47 million eligible voters in Italy, which gives the southern European country – one of the founding fathers of the European Union – 76 seats in the 720-seat European Parliament.
Meloni made it clear during the election campaign that she expects Italy to get a top post in the future European Commission.
Italy was the last of the 27 EU member states to close its polling stations at 11pm (9pm GMT) on Sunday evening. Preliminary official results are expected Monday morning.
