Far-right Giorgia Meloni named Italy's first woman Prime Minister
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Shortly after she was named Italy's Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni appoints Giancarlo Giorgetti as Economy Minister.
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Far-right leader Giorgia Meloni (Reuters)
Far-right leader Giorgia Meloni was named on Friday as Italy's Prime Minister, becoming the first woman to head a government in the country.
Her post-fascist Brothers of Italy party won September 25 legislative polls but needs outside support to form a government.
Meloni's appointment is a historic event for the eurozone's third largest economy and for Brothers of Italy, which has never been in government.
The 45-year-old will now name her ministers who will be sworn in on Saturday in front of President Sergio Mattarella.
Shortly after she was named, Meloni appointed Giancarlo Giorgetti as Economy Minister, who served under the previous government of Mario Draghi.
Giorgetti, a former Minister of Economic Development, is considered one of the pro-Europe members of Matteo Salvini's far-right League party.
Last month, Meloni's Brothers of Italy party won 26% of the vote, compared to 8% and 9% respectively for her allies Forza Italia and the far-right League.
Meloni's coalition will struggle to maintain unity
The consultations to form a government had been overshadowed by disagreements over Meloni's support for Ukraine with her two would-be coalition partners.
A recording was leaked during the week in which Italy's former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi -- who heads Forza Italia -- talks about his warm ties with Russia and blames Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for the war in Ukraine.
Meloni's other coalition partner, Salvini, has criticized Western sanctions on Moscow.
The new Italian Prime Minister has been firm about her support for Ukraine, in line with the rest of the European Union and the United States.
"I intend to lead a government with a clear and unequivocal foreign policy line," Meloni has said, stressing that "Italy is fully, and with its head held high, part of Europe and the Atlantic Alliance."
"Anyone who does not agree with this cornerstone will not be able to be part of the government, even at the cost of not forming a government," she has warned.
On his part, Berlusconi, 86, said his personal and political position does "not deviate from that of the Italian government (and) the European Union" on Ukraine.
But the tensions add to concerns that Meloni's coalition, held together by the need for a parliamentary majority, will struggle to maintain unity.
Meloni's coalition wants to renegotiate Italy's part of the EU's post-Covid recovery fund, arguing the almost 200 billion euros ($193 billion) it expects to receive should take into account the current energy crisis, exacerbated by the war in Ukraine which has hit the supplies of Russian gas to Europe, but the funds are tied to a series of reforms only just begun by Draghi.
It is noteworthy that inflation in Italy rose to 8.9% in September over the previous year threatening to put the country in recession next year.
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