An attempt by the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, to become the standard bearer for Europe’s surging right-wing parties is under threat from her right-hand man at home as well as the French populist leader Marine Le Pen.
As Le Pen and Matteo Salvini, the deputy prime minister, team up to attack Meloni over her increasingly pro-EU views, analysts say Italy risks turning from a proving ground for the European right to a fault line for its internal bickering.
“As prime minister, Meloni cannot afford to be a Eurosceptic any more, but as he looks for votes, Salvini can,” said Lorenzo Pregliasco, director of the polling firm You Trend, referring to the League party leader, who has been in coalition with the prime minister since
