Italy commemorated the end of its occupation by Nazi Germany in 1945 with a memorial service in Rome on Thursday.
President Sergio Mattarella laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier as Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and the presidents of both chambers of parliament looked on.
Meloni is the leader of the largest governing party, the right-wing populist Brothers of Italy, which has its roots in neo-fascist movements born after World War II.
Critics accuse the prime minister, who took office in October 2022, of never sufficiently distancing herself from Italy's fascist past.
In a statement to mark Liberation Day on Thursday, Meloni reaffirmed her rejection of "all totalitarian and authoritarian regimes" and said the end of fascism had laid the foundations for the return of democracy in Italy.
There are prominent members of her party who have made no secret of their admiration for Benito Mussolini, the fascist dictator and Hitler ally who was arrested and executed by partisans in April 1945.
Around 70,000 Italians were killed during the German occupation from 1943 to 1945. Mussolini had previously been in power for two decades.
