Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is facing a major political threat from her right flank.
From the packed auditorium steps of the Vatican, former army general Roberto Vannacci, popularly known as “Il Generale”, is drawing massive crowds for his rapidly expanding fledgling party, "Futuro Nazionale."
By branding himself as a political outsider, Vannacci is systematically disrupting Italy's conservative landscape and exposing deep fractures ahead of the 2027 general election.
Analysts warn the central issue is no longer whether Vannacci will shift the upcoming vote, but whether Meloni can successfully contain or outmanoeuvre a rival threatening to destabilise her government’s moderate, pro-European platform.
Vannacci's rise comes as far-right and nationalist parties gain ground across Europe, reshaping the political landscape and focusing on polarising issues like migration and security.
'The real right'
“With us, Italy will once again be the home of Italians,” Vannacci said at his party's founding assembly this weekend in Rome, “Everyone must feel safe in their own home.” He proudly described his core lawmakers as the “dirty dozen,” stressing his outsider role.
Vannacci, 57, emerged politically with his 2023 self-published book “Il mondo al contrario” (The World Upside Down), which drew controversy for harsh attacks on LGBTQ+ people, migrants and minorities.
He entered politics a year later with Matteo Salvini's anti-migration League, winning more than 530,000 preferences in European Parliament elections. He left the League in February to launch his Futuro Nazionale, a break Salvini called a “betrayal.” Since then, Vannacci has consolidated support. The party says it has surpassed 100,000 members and now has eight deputies, including defectors from the League and centrist Forza Italia, underscoring unease within Meloni's coalition.
He rejects the traditional “far-right” label, calling his movement the “real right,” and has accused Meloni of failing to turn shared priorities into policies. He's for now ruling out a possible alliance.
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Vannacci platform centres on hard-line positions on security and migration, including calls for the “remigration” of foreigners he considers not integrated; opposition to EU policies such as the Green Deal; and criticism of Western sanctions on Russia.
'A potential wild card'
Analysts say Vannacci's rise in Italy reflects a political and cultural shift.
“He is commanding a sort of political raid for hard-right votes within the main parties of the coalition,” said Massimiliano Panarari, politics professor at University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. “Meloni's strategy was to have no one to her right. Now she does.” Panarari described Vannacci as “an entrepreneur of fear,” whose rhetoric pushes themes that Meloni can no longer openly embrace in government, like openly anti-gay and anti-feminist positions.
Lorenzo Pregliasco, political analyst and polling expert at YouTrend, said the development introduces “something new — an opposition from the right to the current government.”
That shift carries electoral weight. Polls put Vannacci's Futuro Nazionale at around 4 per cent to nearly 5 per cent, a potentially decisive share with Italy's main centre-right and centre-left blocs closely matched.
“They could be the difference between finishing ahead or behind,” Pregliasco said, describing Vannacci as a potential “wild card.”
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