Italian Ex-General Roberto Vannacci Challenges Meloni’s Right-Wing Coalition

Former army general Roberto Vannacci arrived alone at the lakeside Ambrosetti Forum in Cernobbio, prompting organizers to move him to the Villa d’Este gardens to accommodate the media surge. After a 15-month stint as Italy’s military attaché in Moscow, he was suspended and later retired, self-publishing *Il Mondo al Contrario*, which became a bestseller and fueled speculation about ties to Vladimir Putin. He won a European Parliament seat as an independent on Matteo Salvini’s list in 2024, then split from the League in February and founded the National Future party, positioning himself as a hard-right alternative to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s coalition.

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Vannacci advocates stricter immigration controls, limits on abortion, and a “nativist” stance on LGBTQ+ issues, proposing to expand same-sex unions only to “ties of affection and friendship” while emphasizing traditional marriage for procreation. He opposes Italy’s support for Ukraine, arguing that supplying weapons creates a “vicious circle” that harms European energy prices. Party financing totals about €400,000, mainly from membership dues, and his latest polling shows a 7.9 % share, placing him second on the right after Meloni’s Brothers of Italy.

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Matteo Salvini dismissed Vannacci’s poll numbers, emphasizing that “the poll that matters is the day of the vote.” He met Vannacci briefly at the forum, shaking hands before a breakfast buffet. Vera Capperucci, a politics professor at Luiss University, noted that Salvini “opened up a highway” for Vannacci and suggested the newcomer could persist at least until the election. Prime Minister Meloni, who ruled out a pre-election alliance, warned that “politics is never arithmetic,” hinting that Vannacci’s votes may be needed if her electoral-reform bonus passes.

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• “I’m hoping for a snowball effect,” — Roberto Vannacci

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• “Salvini opened up a highway for him,” — Vera Capperucci, a politics professor at Luiss University in Rome

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• “The poll that matters is the day of the vote,” — Matteo Salvini

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• “I still have a couple of friends that live in Moscow, we talk on occasion,” — Roberto Vannacci

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