Italians began voting on the third day of four European elections held in the 27-nation EU.
The vote is for the next European Parliament, but Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni hopes the result will further strengthen his influence on Italian politics. She even urged her voters to “just write Georgia” on her ballot.
Most EU countries are scheduled to vote on Sunday after a tumultuous few weeks in which two European leaders and several other politicians were physically attacked.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was assaulted on the streets of Copenhagen on Friday evening ahead of Denmark's vote on Sunday.
She suffered minor minor injuries and the suspect was taken into custody, according to her office.
Leaders across Europe were shocked by the attack, which came amid an election involving potentially 373 million European voters.
Last month, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico survived a murder attempt and was only recently able to be discharged from hospital. Several German politicians were also targeted.
This election should not have any impact on national politics, but the reality is very different, especially in Italy.
Ms. Meloni, who leads the far-right Brotherhood of Italy (FdI), was appointed prime minister in 2022 and took the rare step of placing her name at the top of her party's ballot paper despite not intending to run. Seats in the European Parliament.
Giorgia Meloni has fallen steadily in the polls since becoming prime minister in 2022, helped by a fragmented center and left opposition and the gradual decline of her junior coalition partner Matteo Salvini's once powerful populist League party. came. The appeal of FdI.
To reverse this trend, Mr Salvini has pushed the party's rhetoric further to the right.
The League's election posters, condemning all manner of EU-backed plans from electric cars to caps tied to plastic bottles, attracted considerable attention, although they were met with some ridicule.
