Mixed reactions to Giorgia Meloni's election win in Italy.
- Some say Giorgia Meloni's values are a justified reaction to woke politics.
- Others expressed concern for the rights of workers, migrants, the LGBTIQ+ community and women.
Some European leaders have expressed nervousness following Giorgia Meloni's triumph at Italy's Sunday elections, with her conservative alliance set to lead the country's most right-wing government since World War Two.
The Brothers of Italy party has roots in the post-fascist movement founded by supporters of Benito Mussolini, and Ms Meloni herself praised the dictator when she was young.
The 45-year-old has sought to distance herself from the past as she built up her party into a political force, going from just four per cent of the vote in 2018 to Sunday's projected triumph.
Her success represents a seismic change in Italy, a founding member of the European Union and the eurozone's third largest economy — and for the EU, just weeks after .
'Populist movements grow but end in catastrophe'
On Monday, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares warned populist movements always surge during difficult times but always end badly.
"These are uncertain times and at times like this, populist movements always grow, but it always ends in the same way - in catastrophe because they offer simple short-term answers to problems which are very complex," he told reporters at a briefing on Monday.
French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said France will be "attentive" to the respect of the right to abortion and other human rights in Italy following Ms Meloni's election victory.
"We will be attentive, with the president of the European Commission, that these values of human rights, the respect of one another, notably the respect of abortion rights, are respected by all," Ms Borne told BFM television.
But she declined to comment directly on the strong showing for Ms Meloni's Brothers of Italy party on Sunday, which should see the eurosceptic populist party secure a majority in both houses of parliament.
"I am not going to comment on the democratic choice of the Italian people," she said.
The 45-year-old will become Italy's first female prime minister. Source: AAP / Minako Sasako/AP
Yet she has raised alarm among women's rights advocates by saying she wants to "give to women who think abortion is their only choice the right to make a different choice".
Her party has also pledged new steps to defend and promote Europe's "Judeo-Christian" roots, prompting concern among minority groups.
Europe hopes for 'constructive cooperation'
Ms Meloni no longer wants Italy to leave the eurozone but says Rome must assert its interests more, and has policies that look set to challenge Brussels on everything from public spending rules to mass migration.
The German government said on Monday it expected Italy to continue to be a "very Europe-friendly country".
"We of course have to wait for the official final result from this election but at this time what the chancellor would say is that Italy is a very Europe-friendly country with very Europe-friendly citizens and we assume that won't change," Chancellor Olaf Scholz's deputy spokesman Wolfgang Buechner told reporters.
A finance ministry spokesperson added that Berlin expected the new Italian government to continue to respect the stability pact that sets the fiscal rules for the eurozone.
The European Commission on Monday said it hoped for a constructive relationship with the next government in Italy.
The commission, the EU's executive, by principle works "with the governments that emerge from the elections," said EU spokesman Eric Mamer at a news briefing.
"This is no different in this case. Of course we hope that we will have a constructive cooperation with the new Italian authorities," he added.
'Great victory'
Meanwhile Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki hailed the Italian far-right's "great victory".
"Great victory! Congratulations!" Mr Morawiecki said on Facebook, using emojis to say that the two countries would be strong together.
Poland's governing Law and Justice (PiS) party and the Brothers of Italy are both part of the right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists Group.
"I'm glad that a party from the ECR group is assuming responsibility for yet another European nation," tweeted PiS member and former premier Beata Szydlo.
Political director to right-wing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Balazs Orban, was also quick to offer his congratulations.
"Congratulations to Giorgia Meloni, Matteo Salvini and (Forza Italia leader) Silvio Berlusconi on the elections today! In these difficult times, we need more than ever friends who share a common vision and approach to Europe's challenges."
At a time of soaring inflation, a looming energy crisis and the war in Ukraine,Ms Meloni sought to reassure those worried about her lack of experience and radical past.
She said voters had sent a "clear message" of support for her party to lead their right-wing coalition to power.
"If we are called to govern this nation we will do it for all Italians. We will do it with the aim of uniting people, of enhancing what unites them rather than what divides them," she told reporters.
