Meloni with the Hungarian PM in Italy in December 2024.
In a sign that dissatisfaction with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s lack of consistent conservative political attitudes has spread from former European allies to the American right, publicist Steve Bannon has called the Italian politician “irrelevant” and a “globalist.” Meloni, once touted as a conservative hero by the European national-conservative side, was initially labelled a “post-fascist” and a far-right figurehead by the European left. Now though, a conspicuous truce has been established between the European pro-migration left and the leader of the once vilified Italian Brotherhood. Some in the U.S. have seemed to come up with an explanation.
In an interview for the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, American Republican commentator Steve Bannon had accused Meloni of selling out to the left. “She was fantastic, now she has become a globalist,” he said. When asked about the Italian PM’s recent criticism of Donald Trump with regard to Greenland, he added that “she played the EU game because she needed the money, and the NATO game. She talks a lot about Ukraine, but when it comes to sending funding and troops she changes tune. Frankly, I believe that nothing she says is relevant, because she has no economic and military resources to support him.
I do not take her seriously anymore and no one in the U.S. does,”
the former chief strategist for President Trump added.
Steve Bannon (3rd R) at the Oval Office. Photo: Wikimedia
Benjamin Harnwell, Bannon’s associate, explained for the Brussels Signal that Meloni has projected herself as a “bridge” between the US and the EU for years, while simultaneously playing a double act of being subservient to the European Commission’s President, Ursula von der Leyen. In his view, the Italian PM is “increasingly seen as… a pro-European, pro-institutional globalist. This is not what the present administration is looking for in its allies,” Harwnell reiterated. In his view, President Trump doe not need a bridge to Europe, “and if he did, that person would more likely be Viktor Orbán, who went out of his way to remain loyal to Donald Trump when the latter was out of power and written off politically — which is something Giorgia Meloni famously never did.” Instead, Meloni went out of her way to win favors with Joe Biden, and aligned herself with the former Democrat President’s geopolitical agenda, the U.S. analyst claimed.
It is no secret that there is growing discontent with the Italian Prime Minister on the European conservative scene. Her tough talk on migration has failed to bring in real results.
Since she came to power in October 2022, there were an estimated 350,000 illegal arrivals in Italy on land and sea. And while the number of arrivals has since fallen by as much as 60%, she has failed to tackle the issue of deportations, with as little as 15% of those with expulsion orders actually removed.
On the Hungarian side, she raised eyebrows by stabbing his long-term mentor, PM Viktor Orbán in the back, when in 2024 she agreed to welcome ultranationalists, the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), into the European Conservatives and Reformers bloc (ECR) in the European Parliament. She was, furthermore, criticized for her membership in the Aspen Institute (a think tank funded by entities like the Rockefeller and Gates foundations), and for accepting the Atlantic Council’s Global Citizen Award in 2024. She has also come under fire for signing the EU’s infamous migration pact and for continuing with parts of Brussels’ Net Zero agenda.
Via La Repubblica, Brussels Signal. Featured Photo: MTI/Miniszterelnöki Sajtóiroda/Benko Vivien Cher
The post Not Meloni, Viktor Orbán is the Bridge between Washington and Europe appeared first on Hungary Today.
