Credits: Governo italiano / governo.it, Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Italy (CC BY 3.0 it).
In Antibes, where Emmanuel Macron receives Giorgia Meloni on June 25, 2026, the Italian prime minister arrives with an additional domestic constraint. Roberto Vannacci, a former general turned MEP, sets Futuro Nazionale to the right of Fratelli d’Italia. Between favorable polls, a parliamentary rupture, and the electoral calendar, the question of Meloni and the far right now shifts to the cohesion of her majority.
A Rival Born In The Nationalist Camp
Roberto Vannacci is not a typical opponent of Giorgia Meloni. He was elected to the European Parliament in 2024 under Matteo Salvini’s League. At the start of 2026, he left that party to launch Futuro Nazionale. Its promoters present it as a more “authentic” and tougher right. The movement attracts some elected officials and supporters who consider the governing right too cautious since coming to power in Rome.
The party is still under construction. Its official program still indicates a constituent phase. Its manifesto emphasizes national identity, sovereignty, security, family, traditions, merit, and order. Those words are not enough to measure its electoral weight. They do, however, illuminate the political space Vannacci seeks to occupy: an Italian right hostile to Meloni’s European, migration, and institutional compromises.
The Poll That Changes The Balance Of Power
Futuro Nazionale’s rise must be handled cautiously, as it rests primarily on voting intentions. It has nonetheless become a political signal. A YouTrend poll for Sky TG24, published June 19, is not an electoral result. It nevertheless places Fratelli d’Italia well ahead at 27.8%. Futuro Nazionale reaches 5.9%, just ahead of the League at 5.8%. Forza Italia, another pillar of the coalition, is given 8.2%.
This level does not make Vannacci a contender for power. It can, however, complicate the coalition’s equation. Futuro Nazionale can siphon votes from Fratelli d’Italia or the League. In that case, it weakens the idea of a disciplined right-wing bloc behind Meloni. If it becomes necessary for a majority in 2027, it can also weigh in negotiations. Other European nationalist forces are already trying to occupy this role.
Franceinfo summarized this dilemma on June 25. The outlet presents Vannacci as a threat coming from Meloni’s right. At the same time, the president of the Council seeks to display, with Emmanuel Macron, a less strained Franco-Italian relationship. The contrast is revealing. Abroad, Meloni wants to appear as a stable European leader. At home, part of her camp reproaches her precisely for that normalization.
The Break Was Played Out In Parliament
The conflict is no longer just media-driven. On June 12, according to ANSA, Giorgia Meloni attacked Futuro Nazionale’s deputies in the Chamber. They had just voted several times against confidence in the government. She accused them of playing into the left’s hands and of not embodying the “true right.” She thus turned their own political vocabulary against them.
This sequence matters more than the phrase. In Italy, a government holds through the cohesion of a parliamentary majority made up of Fratelli d’Italia, the League, and Forza Italia. Vannacci stages a right-wing dissidence, but he also puts pressure on Salvini, whose League is directly challenged. Meloni must therefore contain two risks: a loss of voters to Futuro Nazionale and an escalation of competition among allies.
For now, the president of the Council retains the advantage. Her party remains well above its partners in opinion polls, and the government apparatus remains in her hands. But the novelty lies elsewhere. For the first time since coming to power, a force positioned further to the right is trying to judge her on her ideological fidelity.
A European Constraint For Meloni
The issue goes beyond the Giorgia Meloni Roberto Vannacci duel. Since 2022, Meloni has sought to reassure the European institutions, her American interlocutors, and major European partners. She has also maintained national-conservative rhetoric for her electorate. That line has served her international credibility. It also opens an angle of attack for those who accuse her of having softened her positions. Criticisms target the European Union, Ukraine, migration policy, or coalition balances.
The Antibes summit illustrates this paradox. According to the Élysée announcement relayed by ANSA English, it is the first official bilateral summit between Macron and Meloni. It is also the first under the Quirinal Treaty framework. Defense, energy, space, and infrastructure: the dossiers call for government-to-government relations, not campaign posturing.
It is precisely this gap that Futuro Nazionale exploits. Vannacci can speak to an electorate that wants a right less constrained by European compromises. Meloni, meanwhile, must preserve a coalition capable of governing, an international image she can use, and a viable majority in 2027. The new Italian ultranationalist party is not yet a certain electoral threat, especially since it remains in a constituent phase. It is already a revealer: Meloni’s stabilization in power has created space for a more radical challenge from within her own camp.