Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's arch-conservative Brothers of Italy group won the most votes in this weekend's European parliamentary election, initial results showed, boosting her standing both at home and abroad.
Projected forecasts based on the early count said Brothers of Italy had won 28.3%, more than four times what it took in the last EU election in 2019 and beating the 26% it secured in the 2022 national ballot, when it rose to power.
"THANK YOU!" Meloni said on her X social media account, above a photograph of her flashing the victory symbol.
The opposition centre-left Democratic Party came in second on 23.7% with another opposition group, the 5-Star Movement, coming third on 10.5% -- its worst showing at a countrywide level since its creation in 2009.
The EU ballot indicated that Meloni's ruling coalition, made up of parties that stretch from the centre-right to the far-right of the political spectrum, had seen its support edge up to more than 46% from just under 43% in 2022.
"I think this vote is certainly going to strengthen the government," said Licia Ronzulli, a senator with the ruling coalition Forza Italia party.
Forza Italia, founded by the late Silvio Berlusconi, was in fourth place on 10%, leap-frogging the anti-immigrant League, which was on 8.5%, piling pressure on its leader Matteo Salvini who has pushed his party hard right, antagonising its old guard.
Underscoring tensions in the League, party founder Umberto Bossi voted Forza Italia this time around, his allies told Italian media at the weekend, sending a jolt through the group.
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