Hidden camera footage has captured members of the youth wing of far-right Italian leader Giorgia Meloni giving the fascist salute and chanting “Sieg heil.”
Following the scandal, Prime Minister Meloni told her Brothers of Italy party on Tuesday to expel from its ranks anyone who idolizes Italy’s fascist past and to reject anti-Semitism, racism and nostalgia for past dictatorships.
Criticism mounted after an undercover media investigation last week revealed a video showing members of her party’s youth wing giving the fascist salute.
Meloni wrote in a letter to party leaders that she was “angry and saddened” that their actions damaged the group’s reputation.
“There is no place in the Brothers of Italy for racism or anti-Semitism, nor is there room for those who are nostalgic for the totalitarian regimes of the 20th century or for any manifestation of foolish folklore,” she wrote. “Our task is too great for those who have not understood its magnitude to be allowed to ruin it.”
Hidden camera footage has captured members of the youth wing of Italian far-right leader Giorgia Meloni giving fascist salutes and chanting ‘Sieg heil’ (pictured)
Following the scandal, Prime Minister Meloni (pictured June 28) told her Brothers of Italy party on Tuesday to ban from its ranks anyone who idolizes Italy’s fascist past and to reject anti-Semitism, racism and nostalgia for past dictatorships.
Brothers of Italy has its origins in a neo-fascist group founded after World War II.
However, Meloni has tried to distance herself from the far right in recent years, saying her party is predominantly conservative.
But to top it all off, opposition parties launched an investigation by the online newspaper Fanpage, called ‘The Meloni Youth’.
The publication’s journalist posed as an activist from the National Youth, the youth wing of the Brothers of Italy party, and the report appeared in two installments last month.
According to Fanpage, hidden camera footage showed members of the movement giving the fascist salute, praising Benito Mussolini, describing themselves as fascists and instructing others to distribute stickers with fascist slogans.
According to Fanpage, this showed that Brothers of Italy was a haven for far-right people, and that it contradicted Meloni’s attempts to present a moderate image both at home and abroad.
Meloni said Tuesday that the Brothers of Italy must be transparent and consistent.
“Anyone who believes that there can be a public image of the Brothers of Italy that does not correspond to their private behavior simply does not understand who we are and is therefore not welcome with us,” the letter said.
‘There is no place in our country for people who caricature us and thereby only serve the story that our opponents want to create about us.
“We and I have no time to waste with those who want to take us backwards.”
According to Fanpage.it, the hidden camera footage (pictured) showed members of the movement giving fascist salutes, praising Benito Mussolini, defining themselves as fascists and instructing others to distribute stickers with fascist slogans.
Fanpage posted clips of youth members chanting “Duce,” a reference to Mussolini, and shouting “Seig heil” – a phrase adopted by the Nazis under Adolf Hitler
However, Meloni and other MPs from her party also criticized the methods used by the journalists, arguing that the report represented only a small majority of her party’s youth movement and not the party as a whole.
Luca Ciriani, MP for the Brothers of Italy, also said the Fanpage report was based on fragmented images taken out of context.
Despite her attempts to distance the modern version of her party from Italy’s fascist past, Meloni had to remind her party’s leadership again that they needed to move on with their lives.
She also reminded them that the Brother of Italy adhered to a 2019 European Parliament resolution condemning all dictatorships of the 20th century.
She said this was a “position” she “had no intention of questioning”.
The report found that the party’s project to adapt to modern times was not completed and that there was still nostalgia for the days of Mussolini, Italy’s fascist leader and ‘Duce’ (derived from Dux in Latin, meaning leader) from 1922 to 1945.
In 1945 he was executed by Italian partisans.
The fan page published clips of youth members chanting “Duce,” a reference to Mussolini, and shouting “Seig heil,” an expression adopted by the Nazis under Adolf Hitler.
A man was seen telling journalists, “I am a fascist.”
Another said: “We are comrades, not stupid bastards” – in contrast to Meloni who told a group of National Youth members: “I am proud of you.”
The undercover reporter attended a meeting of the group, where people chanted and gave the fascist salute.
Also present were Marco Perissa and Paolo Trancassini, leading members of the Brothers of Italy, and Nicola Procaccini, a Member of the European Parliament.
The clip showed some people greeting those in attendance with a “gladiator salute,” which the report said involves two people grabbing each other’s wrists to shake hands.
Fanpage’s report also revealed that someone had posted the following message in a group chat: “Jewish people are a race and I despise them.”
Two youth members – Elisa Segnini and Flaminia Pace – resigned last week after the second part of the exposé was published.
They have not been expelled, said a spokesperson for the Brothers of Italy party.
Pictured: Meloni is seen speaking at a national youth event in the Fanpage Report
According to Fanpage, hidden camera footage showed members of the movement giving fascist salutes, praising Benito Mussolini, defining themselves as fascists and instructing others to distribute stickers with fascist slogans (pictured).
Liliana Segre, an Italian senator and Holocaust survivor, asked herself on Italian television after watching Fanpage’s reports: “At my age, do I have to go through this again?”
‘Should I be thrown out of my country like before?’
Left-wing Italian politicians spoke out against Meloni.
Michela Di Biase of the Italian Democratic Party accused the National Youth of idealizing those who “have stained the history of our country with the blood of persecution.”