Italian MEP Roberto Vannacci on Tuesday formally broke with Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini’s far-right League party, capping weeks of internal turmoil and exposing a widening rift on Italy’s right. “I’m chasing a dream, and I’m going far. National Future,” Vannacci, who was Salvini’s deputy, wrote on X. He confirmed plans to move ahead with a new political project to the right of the League, called National Future. The split followed a League federal council meeting and a late-night face-to-face between Salvini and Vannacci on Monday that failed to heal the divide between League moderates, led by Salvini, and Vannacci’s extremists. Vannacci led a faction of the party that had openly challenged policies of the governing coalition led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, including its support for Ukraine. In his announcement, Vannacci drew a sharp ideological line, rejecting what he called a diluted right. “My right is not an à la carte menu … and above all it’s not moderate,” he wrote, describing it instead as “true, coherent, nationalist, strong, proud, convinced, enthusiastic, pure and contagious.” In response, Salvini wrote on X : “Angry? No, disappointed and bitter.” The message was also circulated in the party’s internal WhatsApp channels to confirm the break. The League leader stressed that the party had embraced Vannacci when others shunned him, offering him broad electoral opportunities and senior roles. “Being part of a party, a community, a family means not only receiving but work, sacrifice and above all loyalty,” Salvini wrote, adding that recent months had been marked by “rows, problems, tension” and signs of potential splinter movements. The split raises fresh questions about Vannacci’s political future, after the Patriots for Europe group in the European Parliament removed him from its ranks. In a statement shared with POLITICO by League officials, the group said his departure from the League party made his continued presence incompatible with the group’s political structure, while stressing that cooperation with Salvini’s League remains unchanged at European level. It is also unclear how many lawmakers will follow Vannacci. All eyes are now on several Italian MPs close to him — including Domenico Furgiuele, Rossano Sasso and Edoardo Ziello.

ROME — Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini faces a battle to save his far-right League party from electoral oblivion. The party’s internal crisis exploded into public view last week after Salvini’s maverick deputy, Roberto Vannacci, an ex-general and defender of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, threatened to form a splinter party to the right of the League called National Future. Salvini seeks to play down the split with his No. 2, but Vannacci’s move revealed starkly how the League — a key part of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing ruling coalition — risks disintegrating as a political force before next year’s elections. Current and former party members told POLITICO that Salvini’s rift with Vannacci had exposed a deeper and potentially devastating factional struggle at the heart of the party — between moderates and extremists, and over whether the League should return to its roots ad seek northern autonomy from Rome. In the short term, weakness in the League could bring some relief to the Atlanticist, pro-NATO Meloni, who is prone to irritation at the anti-Ukrainian, Kremlin-aligned outbursts of Salvini and Vannacci, who are supposed to be her allies. In the longer term, however, the party’s full implosion would potentially make it harder for her to build coalitions and to maintain Italy’s unusually stable government. PUBLIC FEUD The tensions between Salvini and Vannacci became impossible to disguise last month. On Jan. 24 Vannacci registered a trademark for his new National Future party. He later distanced himself from an Instagram account announcing the party’s launch, but hinted on X that he could still turn to social media to launch a party when the time was ripe. “If I decide to open such channels, I will be sure to inform you,” he said. By Jan. 29 Salvini was in full firefighting mode. Speaking before the stately tapestries of the Sala della Regina in Italy’s parliament, he insisted there was “no problem.” “There is space for different sensibilities in the League … we want to build and grow, not fight,” he added, vowing to hold a meeting with Vannacci to set the relationship back on course. Many in the League are more hostile to Vannacci, however, particularly those alarmed by the former paratrooper’s placatory language about Mussolini and Russian leader Vladimir Putin. A powerful bloc in the League that is more socially moderate — and deeply committed to northern autonomy — is pressing for Salvini to take the initiative and fire Vannacci, according to two people involved in the party discussions. Daniele Albertazzi, a politics professor and expert on populism at the University of Surrey, said a schism looked imminent. “[Vannacci] is not going to spend years building someone else’s party,” Albertazzi said. “It’s clear he doesn’t want to play second fiddle to Salvini.” FROM ASSET TO LIABILITY Vannacci emerged from obscurity in 2023 with a self-published bestseller “The World Back to Front.” It espoused the Great Replacement Theory — a conspiracy that white populations are being deliberately replaced by non-whites — and branded gay people “not normal.” More recently he has stated he prefers Putin to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Vannacci emerged from obscurity in 2023, with a self-published bestseller “The World Back to Front.” | Nicola Ciancaglini/Ciancaphoto Studio/Getty Images Albertazzi said Vannacci was positioning himself on the extreme right. “You can see it even in the typography of his symbol [for National Future], which evokes the fascist era,” he said. Salvini originally identified the military veteran as a lifeline who could reverse the League’s flagging fortunes. Salvini had early success in transforming the League from a regional party “of the north” into a national force, and it won a record 34 percent of the Italian vote in the 2019 European elections. But by 2022 things were souring, and support collapsed to about 8 percent in the general election. Vannacci was brought in to broaden the party’s appeal and shore up his own leadership. The gamble initially paid off. In the 2024 European elections, Vannacci personally received more than 500,000 preference votes — roughly 1.5 percent of the national total —validating Salvini’s strategy. But Vannacci has since become a liability. He was responsible for a failed regional campaign in his native Tuscany in October and has flouted party discipline, building his own internal group, opening local branches and organizing rallies outside the League’s control, operating as “a party within a party.” In recent interviews Vannacci has increasingly flirted with the idea of going solo with his own party. For the traditional northern separatist camp in the League, Vannacci has gone too far. Luca Zaia, head of the Veneto regional assembly, a towering figure in northern politics, and three other major northern leaders are now demanding privately that he be expelled, according to two League insiders.  “His ideas are nationalist and fascist, and have never been compatible with the League,” said a party member, who was granted anonymity to discuss sensitive internal disputes. “The writing is on the page. Since the first provocation it has been clear that it is only a matter of when, not if, he starts his own party.”  An elected League official added: “Now if he gets votes it’s Salvini’s fault for giving him a ton of publicity. No one had heard of him before. He basically won the lottery.” Attilio Fontana, a senior League official who is president of the Lombardy region, said Vannacci’s actions raised questions for Salvini. “I think that if inside the party there are differences, that can enrich the party. But creating local branches, holding demonstrations outside the party, registering a new logo and website, this is an anomaly … these are issues that [Salvini] will be looking at,” he told reporters in Milan on Friday.  EVERY VOTE COUNTS There’s no guarantee any party Vannacci launches will be a success. Three leaders in his “World Back to Front” movement — seen as a precursor to his National Future party — quit on Friday, issuing a statement that described a lack of leadership and “permanent chaos.” But his party could upset the political landscape, even if he only peels off relatively minor support from the League. Meloni will have a close eye on the arithmetic of potential alliances in the run-up to next year’s election, particularly if left-wing parties team up against her. Giorgia Meloni will have a close eye on the arithmetic of potential alliances in the run-up to next year’s election. | Simona Granati/Corbis via Getty Images Polling expert Lorenzo Pregliasco of You Trend, which is canvassing a potential new party led by Vannacci, said it had a potential electorate on the right of the coalition of about 2 per cent,  among voters who had supported [Meloni’s] Brothers of Italy, League voters and non-voters with an anti immigrant, anti-political correctness stance, who are attracted by Vannacci’s outspokenness.  The potential party “poses some risks for Meloni and the coalition … It’s not a huge electorate but in national elections two points could make the difference between winning and not winning, or winning but with a very narrow majority that could mean you were not able to form a government.”  Vannacci “has been clever in putting himself forward as a provocative opinion leader and converted this into electoral success … He has the potential to be a strong media presence and central to political debate.” The northern separatist Pact for the North movement, led by former League MP Paolo Grimoldi, said Salvini’s reputation was now damaged because of the faith he put in Vannacci. While Salvini could resign and support an alternative figure such Zaia as League leader, this was extremely unlikely, Grimoldi told POLITICO. “If not, there aren’t tools to get rid of him before the next election,” he added.  “The result will be political irrelevance and electoral defeat [for the League].”

Italian authorities investigated a fresco in a Roman basilica after recent restoration works appeared to portray Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni as an angel or a Nike, a figure from Greek mythology commonly used by Italian monarchists. The Cherubino’s features were retouched by the same painter who created the original designs 20 years ago for the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Lucina — a church historically associated with Rome’s right-wing political figures. His artistic choice set off a public debate that quickly turned political. > View this post on Instagram > > > > > A post shared by Giorgia Meloni (@giorgiameloni) Members of the opposition called for an inquiry seeking “clarity on all responsibilities,” while the Culture Ministry inspected the site over the weekend. Local Culture Ministry officials “will verify if a request for the original 2000 decorations was made and if any sketches or pictures exist,” as the church is the property of the Interior Ministry. In a bid to defuse the situation, Meloni posted a photo of the fresco on Instagram, brushing off the episode with a wry caption: “No, I’m definitely not like an angel.” The local diocese tried to distance itself from the artwork’s political undertones Sunday, urging people not to weaponize religious art. “Images of sacred art and Christian tradition should not be subject to improper use,” the office said in a statement. Meloni brushed off the comparisons. | Tiziana Fabi/AFP via Getty Images But Monsignor Daniele Micheletti, the pastor of the basilica, played down the uproar, characterizing San Lorenzo in Lucina’s winged victory as a simple matter of artistic freedom. After all, “even Caravaggio used the face of a prostitute” in his art, he said.

Roberto Vannacci, an MEP and former general, is preparing to launch his own political party, which would formalize a break with Matteo Salvini’s League and potentially reshape the Italian far right. He announced the launch of the new party on Instagram on Wednesday. Vannacci had already registered the name and logo of the movement, Futuro Nazionale (National Future), on Jan. 24, according to trademark filings. His new project is being described by Italian media as an attempt to build an Italian version of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and create a new force that would sit to the right of Salvini. Vannacci, a polarizing figure whose nationalist and anti-immigration views have sparked repeated controversy, is currently deputy secretary of the League. But weeks of internal tensions have pushed relations within the party to breaking point. Salvini had been expected to meet his rebellious deputy for talks, but Vannacci’s latest move appears to reduce the prospect of a reconciliation, pushing the party closer to a possible split. The former general rose to prominence in Italy thanks to his on-stage charisma and his extreme views on the country’s past, with critics accusing him of historical revisionism. He has described dictator Benito Mussolini as a statesman and said that the March on Rome in 1922, when the fascist party took power, “was not a coup, but nothing more than a street demonstration.” The rollout of his new party has not been without hiccups, however. The National Future’s logo immediately caused confusion. In a statement, the right-wing think tank Nazione Futura (Future Nation) sought to distance itself from Vannacci’s initiative, saying there were similarities between the names and logos of the two groups. The think tank is led by Francesco Giubilei, a prominent figure on the Italian right. On the political stage, skepticism is also growing over whether Vannacci’s project will take off. League Senator Claudio Borghi told POLITICO he doubted the party would even truly launch, noting that Vannacci had previously registered a symbol without following through. “I will stay with Salvini,” Borghi said, despite having voted for Vannacci to become an MEP. He stressed that Vannacci’s election was driven by the League leadership, which placed him as the first name on the party’s candidate list at the European election. Borghi described Vannacci as “an intelligent and loyal person” who is unlikely to break away from the party. “I think Vannacci will remain loyal to the League,” he said. “He has been voted by League electors.” And even if a new party were to materialize, Borghi said, it would struggle to gain traction. “The media will love it,” he added, “but it would get 1 percent.”

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government scrambled to contain the fallout Tuesday after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed its agents would assist with security at next month’s Winter Olympics in Italy. Opposition parties reacted with fury after it emerged that the agency, which has been engulfed in controversy after deportation agents killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis in recent weeks, would be involved in security operations for the Games, due to begin on Feb. 6. Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Tuesday that it was “not going to be those that are on the street in Minneapolis.” He added: “I have been harder than anyone else in Italy on [the ICE raids] … but it’s not like the SS are coming,” in reference to the notorious Nazi paramilitary outfit. U.S. ambassador Tilman Fertitta was scheduled to meet Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi later Tuesday to clarify Olympics plans, Tajani said. The controversy erupted Monday, when Attilio Fontana, president of Lombardy, one of the northern regions hosting the Games, wrongly suggested that ICE agents would merely assist with the security of U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who are scheduled to attend the opening ceremony at Milan’s San Siro stadium on Feb. 6. ICE later sought to clarify its role, saying in a statement: “At the Olympics, ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is supporting the US Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service and the host nation to vet and mitigate risks from transnational criminal organizations. All security operations remain under Italian authority.” HSI, which maintains a presence in Italy and many other nations, is part of ICE but separate from the subagency that handles deportations domestically in the U.S. Like other parts of the U.S. federal government, HSI has played a bigger role in supporting the deportations-focused Enforcement and Removal Operations arm of ICE as the Trump administration has ramped up its immigration crackdown, but the agency typically investigates criminal wrongdoing, including child exploitation, human-trafficking and cybercrimes cases. DHS did not respond to a question clarifying whether new agents would be sent to Milan or Cortina d’Ampezzo, or whether it would only involve agents at the Rome field office. ‘NOT WELCOME’ Meloni has already faced criticism for her defense of U.S. President Donald Trump following his threats to annex Greenland. “This government is a joke and completely subservient to those like Trump who every day insult us, threaten world peace and justify inhuman and heinous acts such as those committed by ICE,” said Riccardo Ricciardi, an MP for the opposition 5Star Movement. Alessandro Zan, a member of the European Parliament for the centre-left Democratic Party, condemned it as “unacceptable.” “In Italy, we don’t want those who trample on human rights and act outside of any democratic control,” he wrote on X. “If the Italian government needs ICE’s help, it means not only that it has failed on security but that it has embraced a dangerous drift,” said Maria Chiara Gadda, an MP from the centrist Italia Viva party. Local leaders also joined in. Giuseppe Sala, the left-wing mayor of Milan, which is hosting several Olympic events, told RTL 102.5 radio that ICE was “not welcome.” “This is a militia that kills… They are not welcome in Milan, there’s no doubt about it,” he said, adding: “Can’t we just say no to Trump for once?” Public pressure has also grown. Two petitions Tuesday had gathered more than 50,000 signatures calling on the government to block ICE’s entry and operations in Italy. Eric Bazail-Eimil contributed to this report.

Italy has recalled its ambassador to Switzerland for consultations after Swiss authorities released the owner of a nightclub where a New Year’s Day fire killed 40 people — a move Rome condemned as a “grave offense” and a fresh wound for victims’ families. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani ordered Ambassador Gian Lorenzo Cornado to return to Rome and instructed him to formally protest the decision with prosecutors in the Swiss canton of Valais, citing the seriousness of the alleged crimes, the risk of flight and concerns over possible evidence tampering, according to media reports. Rome said in a statement on Saturday that it is seeking “truth and justice” for the victims, several of whom were Italian nationals. The diplomatic escalation follows the Jan. 1 fire at Le Constellation nightclub in the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana, which broke out during New Year celebrations shortly after 1 a.m., killing 40 people and injuring 116. Investigators believe indoor pyrotechnic sparklers attached to champagne bottles ignited flammable acoustic foam on the ceiling, triggering a rapid flashover that engulfed the packed basement venue within seconds. Swiss prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into the bar’s owners on suspicion of negligent homicide, bodily harm and arson. Jacques Moretti, one of the bar’s co-owners, had been detained earlier this month as a flight risk before a Swiss court ordered his release on bail on Friday.

BRUSSELS — Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni made U.S. President Donald Trump’s case to the EU behind closed doors this week, in an effort to soothe transatlantic tensions. At a summit in Brussels on Thursday, Meloni told her EU counterparts that fighting Trump was a bad idea because Europe has everything to lose from a conflict with America, according to four people briefed on the leaders’ conversations who were granted anonymity to detail private conversations.  Instead, she urged them all to remain calm and not write Trump off as crazy or unpredictable, as some officials have privately described him during a whirlwind start to 2026 on international affairs.  Speaking after the summit, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen suggested the leaders had learned the lesson this week that standing up to Trump in a “firm” but “non-escalatory” way was an effective strategy that they should continue.  EU leaders called the emergency summit in response to Trump’s threat to hit eight European countries with tariffs for objecting to his demand to seize control of Greenland from Denmark. The crisis in the transatlantic relationship has dominated discussions in Brussels and other European capitals, and leaders gathered for dinner Thursday to try to sketch out a strategy for the future.  After the EU threatened to use trade and other methods to retaliate if Trump went ahead with his tariff threat, and markets reacted negatively, the U.S. president backed down and indicated he wanted an amicable deal on Greenland.  The reports of Meloni’s intervention suggested she wanted a more cautious approach than some leaders around the table. On Friday, Meloni was hosting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Rome to discuss greater defense and industrial cooperation. EU leaders resolved to meet again next month for a “strategic brainstorming” session on ways to adapt to a new world order dominated by great power rivalries, with less of a role for international law.  “Our impression was that a large majority of leaders really identified the last weeks as a turning point, and that Europe should act quickly on several fronts to be able to defend its core interests,” a fifth person briefed on the discussions said. There were “no illusions that the crisis is over.” Hannah Roberts in Rome contributed to this report.

BERLIN — As Europe’s traditional Franco-German engine splutters, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is increasingly looking to team up with hard-right Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni as his co-pilot in steering the EU. The two are set to meet at a summit in the opulent Villa Doria Pamphilj in Rome on Friday to double down on their budding alliance. They are both right-wing Atlanticists who want to cool tensions with U.S. President Donald Trump. And they both have their frustrations with French President Emmanuel Macron. In years past, Germany would traditionally have turned to France at decisive moments to map out blueprints for the EU, so it’s significant that Merz is now aligning with Meloni in his attempt to drive forward core European priorities on trade and industry. In part, Merz’s gravitation toward Meloni is driven by annoyance with France. Berlin is irritated that Paris sought to undermine the landmark Mercosur trade deal with South America, which the Germans have long wanted in order to promote industrial exports. Germany is also considering pulling out of a €100 billion joint fighter-jet program over disputes with the French. Against that backdrop, the alignment with Rome has a compelling logic. During Friday’s meeting, Merz and Meloni are expected to sign up to cooperation on defense, according to diplomats involved in the preparations. It’s not clear what that involves, but Germany’s Rheinmetall and Italy’s Leonardo already have a joint venture to build tanks and other military vehicles. Perhaps most ambitiously, Italy and Germany are also teaming up to draft a new game plan to revive EU industry and expand exports in a joint position paper for the Feb. 12 European Council summit. Berlin and Rome style themselves as the “two main industrial European nations” and have condemned delays to the Mercosur agreement. That language will grate in Paris. IN FOR THE LONG HAUL For Giangiacomo Calovini, a lawmaker from Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party, who heads the parliament’s Italian-German friendship group, the Merz-Meloni alliance makes sense given Macron’s impending departure from the European stage after next year’s French election. “[Our] two countries have stable governments, especially if compared with France’s,” he said. “It is clear that Meloni and Merz still probably have a long path ahead of them, during which they can work together.” Safeguarding the relationship with Trump is crucial to both leaders, and both Merz and Meloni have sought to avoid transatlantic blow-ups. They have been supported in their firefighting by their foreign ministers, Johann Wadephul and Antonio Tajani. “Giorgia Meloni and Friedrich Merz have represented the European wing most open to dialogue with President Trump,” said Pietro Benassi, former Italian ambassador to Berlin and the EU. “The somewhat surreal acceleration [of events] driven by the American president is confirming a convergence in the positions of Italy and Germany, rather than between Italy and France, or France and Germany.” In contrast to the softly-softly approach in Rome and Berlin, Calovini accused Macron of unhelpfully “contradictory” behavior toward Trump. “He acts as the one who wants to challenge the United States of America but then sends texts — that Trump has inelegantly published — in which he begs Trump to have dinner,” he complained. GOOD CHEMISTRY Officials in Berlin now privately gush over the growing cooperation with Meloni, describing the relationship with Rome as dependable. “Italy is reliable,” said one senior German government official, granted anonymity to speak candidly. It’s not an adjective authorities in Berlin have often used to describe their French counterparts of late. “France is more verbal, but Italy is much more pragmatic,” said Axel Schäfer, a senior lawmaker in Germany’s Social Democratic Party long focused on German-Italian relations. An Italian official also praised the “good chemistry” between Merz and Meloni personally. That forms a marked contrast with the notoriously strained relations between Meloni and Macron, who have frequently clashed. In their effort to draw closer, Merz and Meloni have at times resorted to hyperbole. During his inaugural visit to Rome as chancellor last year, Merz said there was “practically complete agreement between our two countries on all European policy issues.” Meloni returned the sentiment. “It is simply impossible to cast doubt on the relations between Italy and Germany,” she said at the time. MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE That is overegging it. The two leaders, in fact, have considerable differences. Meloni refused to support an ultimately doomed plan, pushed by Merz, to use frozen Russian assets to finance military aid for Ukraine. Meloni also briefly withheld support for the Mercosur trade deal in order to win concessions for Italian farmers before ultimately backing it. Critically, Rome and Berlin are likely to prove very awkward allies when it comes to public finances. Italy has long pushed for looser European fiscal policy — and been a natural ally of France on this point — while Germany has served as the continent’s iron disciplinarian on spending. But even here there has been some convergence, with Meloni cutting Italy’s spending and Merz presiding over a historic expansion in debt-fueled outlays on infrastructure and defense. Fundamentally, much of the growing alliance between Merz and Meloni is a product of shifts undertaken for their own domestic political survival. Meloni has dragged her nationalist Brothers of Italy party to the center, particularly on foreign policy matters. At the same time, the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in Germany has forced Merz to shift his conservative party sharply to the right on migration.     This ideological merging has allowed for a warming of relations. As Merz has sought partners on the European level to drastically reduce the inflow of asylum seekers coming to Europe, to reduce regulation and to push for more trade — and provide a counterbalance to Macron — Meloni has become an increasingly important figure for the chancellor. Still, Stefano Stefanini, a former senior Italian diplomat and NATO representative, said there would always be limits to the relationship. “It’s very tactical,” he said. “There’s no coordinated strategy. There are a number of issues on which Meloni and Merz find themselves on the same side.” Stefanini also noted that spending commitments — particularly on military projects — would be an area where Rome would once again find itself in a more natural alliance with France. “On defense spending Italy and France are closer, because Germany has the fiscal capacity to spend by itself, while Italy and France need to get as much financial support as they can from the EU,” he said. Despite such differences, Meloni has seized her opening to get closer to Merz. “Meloni has understood that, as there is some tension in the France-Germany relationship, she could infiltrate and get closer to Germany,” said Marc Lazar, an expert on Franco-Italian relations who teaches at the Luiss University in Rome and at Sciences Po in Paris.

Italy’s right-wing government led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Friday presented a new commercial strategy for the Arctic region. The document was officially presented in Rome by Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Defense Minister Guido Crosetto and University and Research Minister Anna Maria Bernini and aims to strengthen security cooperation and open business opportunities in the region. The new strategy reflects the polar north’s growing geopolitical and economic importance, as U.S. President Donald Trump seeks to expand American influence by acquiring or seizing Greenland from Denmark. In a statement, Meloni said Italy was “perfectly aware of how much this region of the world represents a strategic quadrant in global balances” and pledged to continue working to preserve the Arctic as “an area of peace, cooperation and prosperity.” She added that the Arctic must “increasingly be a priority of the European Union and NATO,” urging the transatlantic military alliance to develop a coordinated presence to “prevent tensions, preserve stability and respond to interference from other actors.” Tajani announced that he would travel to Washington in the coming weeks to discuss raw materials with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other partners, and said Italy would also launch “an Italian business mission to the Arctic.” Anna Maria Bernini said Rome would host the Arctic Circle Rome Forum — Polar Dialogue in early March, bringing together entrepreneurs, defense firms, scientists, researchers and politicians to discuss the region. | Fabio Frustaci/EPA “Europe’s attention and Italy’s attention to the Arctic is not born today: we have always recognized the centrality,” Tajani said, adding that Rome was considering setting up a business group focused on exports in sectors such as defense, energy and space. “We want to support our companies and stand by them because the Arctic region is our priority.” Bernini said Rome would host the Arctic Circle Rome Forum — Polar Dialogue in early March, bringing together entrepreneurs, defense firms, scientists, researchers and politicians to discuss the region. The renewed focus on the Arctic comes as Denmark and several allies announced plans this week to reinforce their military presence in Greenland, following escalating rhetoric from U.S. President Donald Trump about American claims to Arctic territory. Crosetto, however, criticized the fragmented national deployments of troops, calling instead for a NATO-led approach. “Italy’s defense ministry has been focused on the Arctic for some time now, with the Navy, the Air Force and the Army carrying out exercises that did not start today, and that certainly are not about sending 15 soldiers to Greenland,” he said. “Imagine it: 15 Italians, 15 French, 15 Germans — it sounds like the beginning of a joke to me. I think it is in our interest to keep the Western world together, always thinking in NATO and U.N. terms,” he added.

A Milan criminal court on Wednesday acquitted Italian fashion influencer and businesswoman Chiara Ferragni of aggravated fraud in the so-called Pandorogate scandal. The case, one of Italy’s most high-profile celebrity trials, centered on allegations of misleading advertising linked to the promotion of the sweet pandoro Christmas bread — luxury sugar-dusted brioches — in 2022 and Easter eggs sold in 2021 and 2022. Prosecutors, who had requested a 20-month prison sentence, argued that consumers had been led to believe their purchases would support charitable causes, when donations had in fact already been made and were not tied to sales. Ferragni denied any wrongdoing throughout the proceedings. Judge Ilio Mannucci rejected the aggravating circumstance cited by prosecutors, reclassifying the charge as simple fraud, according to ANSA. Under Italian law, that requires a formal complaint to proceed. But because the consumer group Codacons had withdrawn its complaint last year after reaching a compensation agreement with Ferragni, the judge dismissed the case. The ruling also applies to her co-defendants, including her former close aide Fabio Damato, and Cerealitalia Chairman Francesco Cannillo. “We are all very moved,” Ferragni said outside the Milan courtroom after the verdict. “I thank everyone, my lawyers and my followers.” The scandal began in late 2023, when Ferragni partnered with confectioner Balocco to market a limited-edition pandoro to support cancer research. But Balocco had already donated a fixed €50,000 months earlier, while Ferragni’s companies earned more than €1 million from the campaign. The competition authorities fined Ferragni and Balocco more than €1.4 million, and last year, Milan prosecutors charged Ferragni with aggravated fraud for allegedly generating false expectations among buyers. Ferragni and her then-husband and rapper Fedez used to be Italy’s most politically influential Instagram couple, championing progressive causes, campaigning for LGBTQ+ rights and positioning themselves against the country’s traditionalist Catholic mainstream, often drawing sharp criticism from Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and the Italian right. Since the scandal erupted in December 2023, however, that cultural and political empire has unraveled: the couple divorced, Ferragni retreated from public life, and Fedez reemerged in increasingly right-leaning political circles. Wednesday’s acquittal closes a legal chapter that had sparked intense political and media scrutiny, triggered regulatory fines and fueled a broader debate in Italy over influencer marketing, charity and consumer protection.