Debate is raging across Italy about the potential emergence of a new right-wing political force, raising questions about the stability of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s centre-right coalition.
Deputy leader of the League party, MEP Roberto Vannacci, officially registered the name and symbol Futuro Nazionale (National Future) with the European Union Intellectual Property Office this week.
The move is widely seen as a first step toward creating a political movement further to the Right —not only of his own party but also of coalition partners Brothers of Italy and the centrist Forza Italia.
“For now, it is just one of the many associations I have founded, and it is not an independent party,” Vannacci said, leaving open the possibility of a future split from the League.
Party insiders describe the registration as a strategic manoeuvre aimed at securing greater influence both within his party and in potential future governments. Analysts warn this internal clash could escalate into the creation of a new political formation, potentially weakening the centre-right coalition.
Vannacci’s profile is unusual in Italian politics. A retired Italian Army general, he commanded elite units and led Italian forces in Afghanistan, Iraq, the Balkans, Rwanda, Somalia and Libya. From 2020 to 2022, he served as military attaché at the Italian Embassy in Moscow.
He gained public attention in 2023 with Il mondo al contrario (The World Upside Down), a self-published book criticising immigration, national identity, and LGBTQ+ issues. Selling around 100,000 copies in weeks, it sparked widespread debate.
Defence minister Guido Crosetto called it “personal ramblings” incompatible with a military officer’s duties and launched a disciplinary review. Despite — or because of — the controversy, the book helped Vannacci build a strong base among voters who see the government as too soft on migration, LGBTQ+ rights and EU-Russia relations.
Vannacci’s growing influence caught Salvini’s attention, who included him on the League’s list for the 2024 European elections. Vannacci secured around 500,000 preference votes and was later appointed deputy secretary of the League.
His rapid rise has drawn criticism not only from coalition partners but also from within the League. Some see him as an anomaly, operating outside the party’s traditional hierarchical structures, while others consider him too extreme and have attempted to block the candidacies of his allies in local elections.
Salvini has announced a meeting with Vannacci will soon take place. According to insiders, Vannacci plans to arrive with a “plan B”: Creating a new symbol, which some say would be a tactical move to extract maximum concessions from Salvini.
Neither side wants a rupture but Vannacci remains defiant in the face of boycotts from coalition partners and party hierarchies. He says he feels consistently challenged, not fully accepted and unable to place his preferred candidates in key positions.
He seeks assurances that he will not be sidelined in Brussels with a minor role, where both the League and the European Patriots group, to which he belongs, are surrounded by a “cordon sanitaire” limiting their influence.
Looking towards the 2027 Italian elections, Vannacci has ambitions of becoming a statesman and intends to leverage both his 500,000 preference votes and his experience as a military leader, refusing to be treated as just another party figure.
Substantively, he channels the frustration of a segment of the electorate of both the League and Brothers of Italy on issues such as immigration and geopolitics.
His combination of personal ambition, internal party influence and resonance with a disaffected voter base raises the possibility of a new political party emerging — one that could reshape Italy’s right-wing landscape and have broader repercussions for the cohesion of Meloni’s government.
