Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has gained influence not only at the European level but potentially also domestically following her party's victory in the European elections in Italy.
As the lead candidate of her nationalist Brothers of Italy (FdI) party, the 47-year-old received 28.8% of the vote after almost all constituencies had been counted, according to polling results posted by national public broadcaster Rai. Compared to 2019, she has more than quadrupled her party's vote share.
In contrast to many other European governing parties, notably in Germany and France, the FdI also made gains compared to the last parliamentary election.
A left-wing alliance led by the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) party under opposition leader Elly Schlein came in second place with 24% of the vote.
The left-wing populist Five Star Movement of former prime minister Giuseppe Conte only achieved 10%.
The Greens and Left Alliance achieved achieved 6.7% while the former Social Democrat prime minister Matteo Renzi failed to reach the 4% hurdle.
Meloni was the so-called lead candidate for the FdI, which has its roots in Italy's post-fascist movement. However, she does not plan to take up a seat in the European Parliament.
For Meloni, the result also represents a major personal success after 18 months in government.
"I am proud of this result," she said. Referring to the poor performance of the governing parties in Germany and France, she added that Italy now had the "strongest government of all" within the EU and the Group of Seven (G7) western industrialized nations.
Meloni has led a coalition of three right-wing parties since October 2022.
Her success at the polls is expected to give her considerable influence at the European level, including potentially on Ursula von der Leyen's future as European Commission president, although von der Leyen is seen by observers to have the necessary support from mainstream parties to secure a second term.
Voter turnout in Italy fell below the 50% mark for the first time in nationwide elections, to 49.7%.
There are a total of 47 million eligible voters in Italy, giving the southern European country - one of the European Union's founding states - 76 seats in the 720-seat European Parliament.
