Italy's new far-right party Futuro Nazionale launches, as 3,000 march for migrant expulsions in Rome

Founding congress

The new far-right party Futuro Nazionale (National Future) held its founding party congress in Rome on Saturday and Sunday. The event, led by retired army general and MEP Roberto Vannacci, brought together roughly 1,500 delegates. Vannacci had exited Matteo Salvini’s Lega party earlier this year after a dispute and now leads a movement that claims nearly 100,000 paying members. The congress opened on Saturday, with proceedings continuing into Sunday, when Vannacci delivered a concluding address.

“We are not ashamed to say it, and I even ask you to say it too: Italy for the Italians!”

Street protests

Concurrently on Saturday, about 3,000 people marched through central Rome under a banner reading “Remigration and Reconquest,” demanding the forced return of immigrants to their home countries. The protest included far-right and neo-fascist groups such as CasaPound, whose spokesman Luca Masella said, “We want to throw out the illegal immigrants, because they should not be here.” He added that even legal immigrants who had not integrated should be “sent home.” In a separate district, tens of thousands gathered in a rival pro-migration march organised by left-wing groups and trade unions, with some waving Palestinian flags. Thousands of police were deployed to keep the groups apart.

Electoral threat to Meloni

Futuro Nazionale poses a direct electoral challenge to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her right-wing coalition, which has governed since October 2022. The party already has eight parliamentarians who switched from coalition parties, and opinion polls put its support at between 4 and 5 percent. Under current rules, a 3 percent threshold applies, which Vannacci’s movement could clear. The next parliamentary election is due in autumn 2027, and no change to the threshold is planned in the upcoming electoral law reform. Meloni faces a dilemma: engage Vannacci and risk alienating moderate voters, or keep distance and lose critical votes on the right.

Hardline ideology and ties

Vannacci describes his party as the “true right” and accuses the Meloni government of being an “anxious right” that is too soft on immigration, crime and the EU. He champions “remigration” — the large-scale repatriation of migrants, rather than merely preventing new arrivals — and national sovereignty. The party maintains ties with Germany’s AfD and has drawn sharp criticism from the left. Opposition MP Angelo Bonelli called the protest slogans “abhorrent” and accused Meloni of silence. Vannacci’s popularity grew through his book “Il mondo al contrario” (The World Upside Down), which rails against migrants and LGBTQ people, and his unapologetic rhetoric continues to polarise.

“And because we are not politically correct, we also say that we want to send home the legal immigrants who have clearly not adapted or integrated.”