In: IAI CommentariesItaly and Russia: New Alignment or More of the Same?Issue: 19|28Italy and Russia: New Alignment or More of the Same?
Nona Mikhelidze*
The 2018 parliamentary elections in Italy marked a spectacular victory for populist parties – the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (MoVimento 5 Stelle – M5S) and the right-wing anti-migrant League party –, reflecting rising nationalist and anti-EU sentiments in a key European country and a founding member of the EU.
The electoral rhetoric of Italy’s two populist parties appeared close to Russian desiderata, even a sort of lullaby song for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Moscow has long encouraged nationalist and …read more
Source: Istituto Affari Internazionali