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File “European Focus” The Italian daily newspaper “Domani”, which the Prime Minister is suing for defamation, is increasingly being attacked by members of the government. An unacceptable form of bullying.
Ever since Giorgia Meloni, the far-right prime minister, formed her government, I have watched the erosion of democracy in Italy. I’m keeping an eye on it as I’ve been reporting on the weakening of the rule of law in Hungary and Poland for the past ten years. It was clear to me that Meloni didn’t like freedom of the press. She sued well-known journalists, including those from my daily newspaper Domani. But neither my colleagues nor I expected the police to arrive at the editorial office.
The search
On March 3, the shock was total. “It was completely surreal,” explains Mattia Ferraresi, editor-in-chief of the daily newspaper. Police arrived at the editorial office with the unusual aim of confiscating an article linked to Government Member Claudio Durigon. Before becoming the figurehead of the right-wing populist Lega party, Durigon was a key figure in the UGL, a conservative union that supports Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and far-right governments. Despite the support of Lega federal secretary Matteo Salvini, Durigon was forced to resign from Mario Draghi’s government (2021-2022) owing to various scandals, including his links with fascists. But Meloni brought it back to government.
“Every time we write an article about him,