Vannacci and Monti clash in Cernobbio over Europe and fascist rhetoric

The debate between Roberto Vannacci and Mario Monti at the Teha Forum in Cernobbio turned sharply confrontational when Monti accused the Italian lawmaker of reviving fascist rhetoric. Vannacci, leader of Futuro Nazionale, had used the discussion on the European Union's future to defend unanimity in EU decision-making.

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Unanimity in the European Union is not a pathology but a guarantee.

“Unanimity in the European Union is not a pathology but a guarantee,” Vannacci said. He argued that if a proposal does not convince everyone, the bloc should improve the proposal rather than change its voting system. Unanimity, he said, prevents 26 states from ruling over the 27th and protects Italy's national interest.

Vannacci portrayed the EU as resistant to change and pointed to countries that remain outside the bloc or have rejected membership. He said the eurozone's share of global GDP had fallen from 30% to 15%, while European industry had gone from world leadership to industrial desertification. He also criticized the EU's approach to migration, identity documents and the free movement of goods and people.

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Perhaps instead of Rearm Europe, it would have been better to make it Reborn Europe.

He called for a demographic response to Italy's low fertility rate, saying that Europe should have promoted “Reborn Europe” rather than “Rearm Europe.” He also described the EU's support for Ukraine alongside increased Russian gas imports as a “schizophrenic strategy,” arguing that Europe was financing the war economy it wanted to oppose.

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The EU has adopted a completely pro-Ukrainian position, but in the last six months imports of gas from Russia have increased, thus financing a war economy that we would like to fight. It is a schizophrenic strategy.

Monti responded at the end of the exchange: “I am old now, but I will fight with all my remaining energy against your attempt to rebuild the rhetoric of fascism.” He said he did not see Vannacci rebuilding the Fascist Party, but argued that one of fascism's most dangerous aspects was already present in his rhetoric: the reconstruction of a narrative in which Italy, Italians and, as Monti put it, the Italian race were declared superior.

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I am old now, but I will fight with all my remaining energy against your attempt to rebuild the rhetoric of fascism.