With the government of Prime Minister Mario Draghi collapsing and Italy planning to hold elections Sept. 25, polls show that a right-of-center government could come to power in Rome.
Under such circumstances, this could mean a dramatic change for the good, Hungary's minister of foreign Affairs and trade, Péter Szijjártó, told Newsmax on Tuesday.
"There might be a chance for the right to win [an election], and it would be the first time there was a [right-of-center] government in a G-7 country," said Szijjártó, who spoke in Washington at an Americans for Tax Reform forum on the global minimum tax (which Hungary successfully vetoed in the European Union).
Should that happen, Szijjártó said, "it could lead to a turnaround in relations with the G-7 and parties who put national interest high."
The Hungarian minister of foreign affairs and trade was clearly referring to the party leading in virtually all polls of Italian voters and its leader, who could easily become prime minister: Giorgia Meloni, of the Brothers of Italy Party.
Meloni is often likened to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán for her hard-line stands against illegal immigration and political correctness, and her criticism of the EU.
Despite her past words of praise for Russian President Vladimir Putin, Meloni and her party have pulled back and supported Ukraine since Russia invaded that country in February.
According to the most recent SWG Institute survey, the Brothers of Italy tops the field in parliamentary elections with 24%, followed by the Democratic (socialist) Party at 22.5%.
The same poll, however, showed two other right-of-center parties that share Meloni's views in strong shape: the Lega (League), headed by Matteo Salvini, at 14%, and Forza Italia (Go Italy), led by former Prime Minister Sylvio Berlusconi, at 7%.
(SWG also showed Five Star, the party whose withdrawal from government was key to Draghi's downfall, drawing 11%.)
This will be the first election run in which candidates will compete for 400 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 200 in the Senate — down from 630 deputies and 315 senators before the Italian Constitution was amended in September 2020.
Should the SWG poll be accurate, the three right-of-center parties would almost certainly gain a majority in both houses of Parliament. Assuming the Brothers came in first, Meloni would be given the first chance to form a government by Italian President Sergio Mattarella.
Not all Europeans shared Szijjártó's enthusiasm for a right-of-center government in Rome. Asked about the Hungarian's comments, Radek Sikorski, a member of the European Parliament from Poland, told Newsmax: "Hungary always backs the losing side."
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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