Neo-Fascist rally in Rome sparks political stir, with opposition seeking probe

By Giada Zampano

ROME (AA) - Italy’s left-wing opposition leaders are calling for a police investigation after a video emerged of hundreds of men making the banned fascist salute during a celebration in Rome.

The annual gathering, in a working-class neighborhood in the eastern part of the city on Sunday, takes place every year to commemorate the anniversary of the killing 46 years ago of three far-right militants from the Italian Social Movement.

The neo-fascist party, now defunct, was founded after World War II and over the years developed into current Premier Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party.

Meloni’s right-wing government has been repeatedly asked to dissolve neo-fascist groups, which are banned by Italy’s anti-fascist Constitution.

In the video, which went viral, the men are standing in rows making a stiff-armed salute and shouting “present.”

“Rome, Jan. 7, 2024. It seems like 1924,” Elly Schlein, leader of the center-left Democratic party, wrote on social media. “What happened is unacceptable. Neo-fascist groups must be disbanded, as the Constitution spells out.”

Schlein also asked the Interior Ministry to explain why police failed to intervene to stop the neo-fascist display.

The opposition Five Star Movement said it would present a complaint to prosecutors over the event.

Since taking power last October, Meloni has tried to distance her party from its neo-fascist roots, saying that “fascism was handed over to history decades ago” and that nostalgists of the Fascist era are not among its ranks.

During her election campaign, Meloni presented the Brothers of Italy as a conservative party, focused on anti-migration policies and nationalistic battles.​​​​​​​