Worldview: Giorgia Meloni masquerades as the 'acceptable' face of the far right, but nobody should be fooled

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

65% : Celebrating together the magnificent restoration of Notre Dame in Paris, the far-right Meloni apparently dazzled Donald Trump, who described her as "great" and a "real live wire" with "a lot of energy".
61% : Her project is all about making ultranationalism and populism an acceptable and "mainstream" partner for democrats.
51% : Far-right parties such as the one Meloni leads, Fratelli d'Italia, with its roots in fascism, are now involved in governments in seven EU countries and are on the rise almost everywhere, including in France and Germany.
48% : She is breaking long-standing taboos about co-operating politically with the rising tide of ultranationalists by skilfully courting EU leaders to convince them she's a trusted partner, unlike her troublesome political bedfellow Viktor Orban.
42% : International organisations such as the Council of Europe and the EU's annual rule of law report have warned against the erosion of media freedom, specifically the repeated use of the courts to silence journalists with defamation writs and the use of state media as disinformation platforms for the government.
34% : A draft security law will increase penalties, up to and including prison sentences, for demonstrations, blockades or picketing.
28% : In return, instead of decrying the erosion of civil liberties in Meloni's Italy, EU leaders have been increasingly willing to brush it aside as an internal matter.

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