Monti breaks Italy’s right-wing silence on Vannacci: “I see the rhetoric and spirit of fascism in you”

Mario Monti delivered the clearest rebuke yet from Italy’s traditional conservative-liberal camp to former general Roberto Vannacci, telling him at the Cernobbio forum that he saw “the reconstitution of the narrative, the rhetoric, and the spirit of fascism” in his political message.

The confrontation exposes the unease inside Giorgia Meloni’s governing right as Vannacci and his new far-right party, National Future, gain attention. Vannacci has accused the three governing parties of being soft and of betraying their voters. Until now, their leaders have largely avoided attacking his most extreme ideas, which overlap with positions they themselves have used for years.

The split is also visible in the reaction to the AfD’s victory in Sunday’s election in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Meloni has remained silent, League leader Matteo Salvini welcomed the result, and Forza Italia leader Antonio Tajani reacted with alarm.

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Listening to your interventions and reading the programme, I believe that one aspect of fascism, the most insidious, is already under way. I see in you the reconstitution of the narrative, the rhetoric, and the spirit of fascism.

Monti, an 83-year-old life senator without a party, confronted Vannacci during a panel at the forum in Cernobbio, on Lake Como, in front of leading figures from Italy’s political, financial and industrial establishment. “Old as I am, if there is any way to prevent this path from continuing, I will spend my last energies doing so,” he said.

In his characteristically professorial tone, Monti challenged what he described as ideas that more or less proclaim the superiority of Italy, Italians and the Italian race. He said pride in Italian identity could turn into a “Calimero complex”, marked by resentment and a demand for greater respect that others would be made to pay for. Monti also warned against a psychological reconstruction of a smaller, inward-looking Italy while current governments focus on securing votes rather than delivering greater growth and opportunity for citizens.

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Old as I am, if there is any way to prevent this path from continuing, I will spend my last energies doing so.