AfD's 43.8% Win Splits Italy's Right as Russia and Ukraine Fault Lines Deepen
Updated
Updated · Euronews · Sep 8
AfD's 43.8% Win Splits Italy's Right as Russia and Ukraine Fault Lines Deepen
3 articles · Updated · Euronews · Sep 8
Summary
AfD's 43.8% victory in Saxony-Anhalt triggered sharply different reactions in Rome, with Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani calling it a worrying signal while Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini hailed an extraordinary democratic success.
Those responses exposed Italy's right-wing divide over how far to engage the AfD, whose anti-Ukraine stance and calls to end Russia sanctions clash with Giorgia Meloni's pro-Kyiv line.
Roberto Vannacci complicated that split further by celebrating the result and advancing a platform close to the AfD's; YouTrend polling puts his Futuro Nazionale at 7.9%, ahead of Forza Italia's 7.1% and the League's 4.4%.
The dispute also mirrors wider European alignments: Forza Italia backs an EPP-led cordon sanitaire around the AfD, while Salvini's League—despite expelling AfD in 2024 after the Krah scandal—has signaled possible renewed cooperation.