The hard-right leader Giorgia Meloni has been a full-throated supporter of Ukraine, but her coalition partners have sounded like apologists for Vladimir V. Putin.
Her nationalist party was the top vote-getter, leaving Ms. Meloni poised to be Italy’s first female prime minister and the first with post-Fascist roots.
Early results suggested her nationalist party would be the top vote-getter, leaving Ms. Meloni poised to be Italy’s first female prime minister and the first with post-Fascist roots.
The hard-right leader has excoriated the European Union in the past, and she regularly blasts illegal immigrants and George Soros. But she is closer than ever to becoming prime minister.