Across Europe, established right-wing parties are finding themselves challenged by actors positioned further to their right. In Italy, the rise of Roberto Vannacci’s movement serves as an examples. The danger is not only the rise of more radical actors, but the gradual redefinition of what is considered politically acceptable.
Strip migration out of the equation, and Italy’s population would still be shrinking at pace. Yet politically, the country is moving in the opposite direction. Giorgia Meloni’s government has doubled down on a hard-line approach: extending detention, tightening family reunification, accelerating asylum procedures and pursuing expansive forms of externalisation beyond Italy’s borders.
Under Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s new migration law revives largely symbolic deterrence measures like the “naval blockade” and the Albania model that are unlikely to boost returns or reduce arrivals, while pragmatic labour regularisations proceed quietly in the background. However, voters are exposed primarily to the spectacle of deterrence.
Over the past decade, Copenhagen has pioneered a conditional model of asylum that blends temporary protection, strict family reunification rules, and incentives for return. What began as a national experiment has, over time, become a reference point for governments across Europe, including the UK’s Labour government.