Italy’s new leader Giorgia Meloni has been in the news since winning the snap elections on 25 September 2022. She is the first-ever woman PM in Italy and also the most “far-right” leader since Benito Mussolini in 1922. Meloni will form a right-wing coalition government with Matteo Salvini and Silvio Berlusconi.
A video in which Giorgia Meloni, the ring-wing firebrand winner of last week’s general elections in Italy, where she was responding to criticisms by French President Emmanuel Macron has been going viral. Speaking to the public, Meloni recalled Macron describing them as “disgusting, cynics, and irresponsible” and the Italian media wanting her opinion on it. So, she gave them a piece of her thoughts and explained to the audience how these 3 three words best fit with France’s own controversial history and colonial legacy.
Her victory has generated a mixed response from around the globe, sparking the ire of the left, liberals, and many mainstream media outlets. Critics have expressed concerns and fears over her harsh nationalistic, religious, and conservative rhetoric. Many have labelled this election victory as “chaos”, which could be “dangerous” for what Europe has stood for.
Under the previous government led by Mario Draghi, Italy and France enjoyed a close friendship. However, after his snap resignation and Meloni’s ascension, France has been worried about that relationship. Many of her French critics have called her “fascist”, and reportedly President Emmanuel Macron has also passed inflammatory remarks against her and her party, Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy).
“French government rattled by Giorgia Meloni’s victory in Italy,” reports one of France’s big newspapers @lemondefr
WHY?
New Italian Prime Minister @GiorgiaMeloni went after French President @EmmanuelMacron reminding him of France’s colonial legacy in Africa and Libya’s bombing pic.twitter.com/8IaNnmrI6R
— Hopewell Chin’ono (@daddyhope) September 27, 2022
Giorgia Meloni talked about irresponsibility, where she criticized France, led by Nicolas Sarkozy at the time, for joining the US and the UK in the 2011 invasion of Libya. She accused France of not being happy with the oil deal between Italy and Libya while Muammar Gaddafi was in power. The agreement allowed Italy to send illegal Libyan immigrants back while getting oil at discounted rates.
She went on to call out the French government for beings cynics themselves for closing off the border between Italy and France in Ventimiglia in 2017. Due to this, a number of migrants and refugees are stranded, living in rough conditions without access to even basic facilities. According to records, 90% of these migrants are irregular and only want to pass through the French territory and not stay. Both countries have failed to do enough for them. The city itself admitted that it was unable to pay such a huge cost. Charities and NGOs have been helping in the survival of these migrants.
Giorgia Meloni returned the phrase “disgusting” back to France for its questionable practices in Africa. She started by criticizing France’s involvement in producing African currency to keep charging minting fees. Around 40 African countries print thier money in Europe and North America. France controls 14 of them with the CFA (French Colonies of Africa) franc, created in the aftermath of World War II.
Another disgusting French practice highlighted by Meloni is uranium mining in Niger. The sub-Saharan African nation has the 4th largest uranium reserve that helps light the Eiffel tower daily. Whereas the owners of this resource – the population of Niger, live without electricity, food, and health facilities. On United Nations Human Development Index in 2016, Niger ranked 187 out of 188 countries in the world.
