The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) has announced it is bringing its gathering to Italy for the first time in its history.
The organisers said on their Facebook page the event would bring together “conservative leaders, policymakers, activists, and patriots” from Italy, Europe and the United States. The post gave no venue, date or speaker list, and the conference did not appear on the CPAC website on August 6.
Italian daily Il Manifesto reported on August 5 that it would be staged in Rome in September and had been prepared in close cooperation with Fratelli d’Italia (FdI), the party of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. The paper said it would serve as a prelude to a larger event planned for 2027, after Italy’s next general election.
CPAC chairman Matt Schlapp had pushed for an Italian conference since February 2025, when he told La Repubblica he hoped Meloni would extend an invitation. He returned to the idea in an interview with il Giornale in Warsaw that August.
The organisation has expanded steadily across Europe, holding conferences in Hungary since 2022 and in Poland since 2025, and staging its first British edition in London in July.
Carlo Fidanza, head of the FdI delegation in the European Parliament, spoke there on a panel on migration. He argued that the Italian Government had shifted the EU debate on returns and on cooperation with countries of origin.
Relations between parts of the European Right and Washington have cooled in recent months. Brussels Signal reported from CPAC Hungary in March that few Italians and no French representatives took part, with several right-wing figures voicing unease over US policy on Iran.
Meloni has addressed CPAC several times, most recently by video link in February 2025.
