Italian ex-general gears up to launch new far-right party

 

Italian ex-general gears up to launch new far-right party

 

MEP Roberto Vannacci looks set to break with Matteo Salvini’s League, but it is far from certain how much support he can command.

 

January 29, 2026 12:32 pm CET

By Giulia Poloni and Ben Munster

https://www.politico.eu/article/italy-roberto-vannacci-launch-new-far-right-party/

 

Roberto Vannacci, an MEP and former general, is preparing to launch his own political party, which would formalize a break with Matteo Salvini’s League and potentially reshape the Italian far right.

 

He announced the launch of the new party on Instagram on Wednesday. Vannacci had already registered the name and logo of the movement, Futuro Nazionale (National Future), on Jan. 24, according to trademark filings.

 

His new project is being described by Italian media as an attempt to build an Italian version of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and create a new force that would sit to the right of Salvini.

 

Vannacci, a polarizing figure whose nationalist and anti-immigration views have sparked repeated controversy, is currently deputy secretary of the League. But weeks of internal tensions have pushed relations within the party to breaking point.

 

Salvini had been expected to meet his rebellious deputy for talks, but Vannacci’s latest move appears to reduce the prospect of a reconciliation, pushing the party closer to a possible split.

 

The former general rose to prominence in Italy thanks to his on-stage charisma and his extreme views on the country’s past, with critics accusing him of historical revisionism. He has described dictator Benito Mussolini as a statesman and said that the March on Rome in 1922, when the fascist party took power, “was not a coup, but nothing more than a street demonstration.”

 

The rollout of his new party has not been without hiccups, however.

 

The National Future’s logo immediately caused confusion. In a statement, the right-wing think tank Nazione Futura (Future Nation) sought to distance itself from Vannacci’s initiative, saying there were similarities between the names and logos of the two groups. The think tank is led by Francesco Giubilei, a prominent figure on the Italian right.

 

On the political stage, skepticism is also growing over whether Vannacci’s project will take off.

 

League Senator Claudio Borghi told POLITICO he doubted the party would even truly launch, noting that Vannacci had previously registered a symbol without following through.

 

“I will stay with Salvini,” Borghi said, despite having voted for Vannacci to become an MEP. He stressed that Vannacci’s election was driven by the League leadership, which placed him as the first name on the party’s candidate list at the European election.

 

Borghi described Vannacci as “an intelligent and loyal person” who is unlikely to break away from the party. “I think Vannacci will remain loyal to the League,” he said. “He has been voted by League electors.”

 

And even if a new party were to materialize, Borghi said, it would struggle to gain traction. “The media will love it,” he added, “but it would get 1 percent.”