Vannacci’s Hard‑Right Breakaway Party Becomes a Growing Threat to Meloni’s Coalition

Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is facing an unexpected political challenge from within her own ideological camp, as former army general Roberto Vannacci rapidly builds momentum with his new far‑right movement, Futuro Nazionale.

Just four months after abandoning Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini’s League party, Vannacci claims to have attracted nearly 100,000 paying members, with national polling placing his party at around 4 percent and rising. The number may seem small, but in what is expected to be a tight election next year, it could be enough to determine whether Meloni secures a second term.

That leaves the prime minister with a difficult strategic dilemma: embrace Vannacci and risk alienating moderates, or distance herself and hope his surge fades before it fractures the right‑wing vote.

Vannacci plans to formally launch his party this weekend, presenting it as a hard‑line nationalist force that accuses Meloni of softening her stance since taking office. “We represent that right which is not faded, not wavering, not fearful,” he told foreign reporters earlier this year, accusing the government of being too accommodating toward Brussels, too weak on crime, and too slow on migrant repatriation.

The 57‑year‑old former paratrooper known for his intense, unsmiling demeanour first rose to prominence three years ago after publishing a controversial book promoting what he called “traditional Italian values” while disparaging LGBTQ people, migrants and feminists. The backlash was swift: Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said the book damaged the army’s reputation, and Vannacci, who had served as Italy’s defence attaché in Russia from 2020 to 2022, was suspended from active duty.

Now, his political comeback threatens to reshape the right‑wing landscape and complicate Meloni’s path to re‑election.