Overview
- About a week after the AfD's victory in Saxony-Anhalt, Meloni told Il Foglio that the 'brandmauer' strategy of cordoning off right-wing parties "does not work" and that politicians should listen to and respond to voters' concerns.
- Meloni linked the AfD's success to parties focusing on identity, opposition to illegal immigration, and warnings about Islamization, arguing those issues need political answers rather than exclusion.
- Her comments reveal clear divisions inside Italy's three-party coalition: Deputy PM Matteo Salvini publicly congratulated AfD co-leader Alice Weidel while Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani called the result 'an extremely bad piece of news'.
- Meloni has previously distanced herself from the AfD and initially stayed silent after the Saxony-Anhalt result, but her new public rejection of cordon sanitaire tactics marks a change in how she addresses far-right gains.
- The debate she has reopened could shift how mainstream European parties respond to rising right-wing movements and may affect discussions on regional government formation, immigration policy, and voter outreach.