Advertisement
You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.
The Italian prime minister was a rare leader to be fortified by the vote for the European Parliament. This week she has a chance to show her influence on an even broader stage.
![A woman in a striped blouse and white trousers stands behind a podium. A blue and white sign behind her reads “Grazie!”](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/06/11/multimedia/11meloni-01-mfbk/11meloni-01-mfbk-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)
By Emma Bubola
Emma Bubola reported from Giorgia Meloni’s election night headquarters in Rome and from the luxury resort in Apulia where Italy will host the G7 this week.
Five years ago, when her party won 6 percent of the vote in elections for the European Parliament, Giorgia Meloni tried to pop a bottle of sparkling wine, but the cork awkwardly flopped among some supporters.
This week Ms. Meloni, now Italy’s prime minister, emerged as a big winner in the elections, and she and dozens of members of her Brothers of Italy party celebrated at a five-star hotel in Rome where waiters carried the wine bottles in silver basins filled with ice. The hard-right party took nearly 29 percent of the vote. The victory was all the more significant because Ms. Meloni was the only leader of a major Western European country to emerge reinforced from the balloting.
For Ms. Meloni, the lift could hardly have come at a better time. All eyes are on Italy this week as Ms. Meloni prepares to host a summit of the Group of 7 major economies for three days starting on Thursday. It’s another opportunity to cast herself as a legitimate member of the club of the world’s most influential leaders.
“This nation goes to the G7 and to Europe with the strongest government of all,” she told supporters early on Monday after the results came in. “They could not stop us.”
Image
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Advertisement
SKIP ADVERTISEMENT