Selena Frasson

Anti-Semitic slurs, racial hatred, and homophobia are the darkest elements permeating the Melonian Youth described in the investigation carried out by Backstair, the investigative unit of Fanpage.it.

After the publication of the first part of our undercover video investigation, the Meloni government chose a strategy of silence, downplaying what had been exposed. Yet radical positions are also expressed by individuals who over the years have supported — or still collaborate with— the top leaders of Brothers of Italy: such as the Undersecretary of Health Marcello Gemmato, MP Ylenja Lucaselli, and MP Giovanni Donzelli, the national head of organization for Brothers of Italy.

On the sidelines of the party’s political and organizational events, as well as in the youth movement’s chats, racist, homophobic, and anti-Semitic insults are common. This behavior is made even more serious by the presence at Casa Italia of Senator Ester Mieli, former spokesperson for the Jewish community and vice-president of the Segre Commission on anti-Semitic hatred.

The sharing of such extreme views is confirmed by numerous former activists of Gioventù Nazionale from all over Italy, who, after seeing our work, decided to contact the editorial staff of Fanpage.it to recount their experiences within the party.

The young members of Brothers of Italy, the activists of Gioventù Nazionale, are praised as “the best youth” by all the party’s leaders, starting with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni herself: they are the party’s future and tomorrow’s ruling class. Backstair, the investigative unit of Fanpage.it, infiltrated the youth movement of Italy’s leading party with an undercover journalist, and — contrary to the moderate image the group tries to project — the video investigation "Gioventù Meloniana" reveals hymns to fascism, fear of the press, praise of neo-fascist terrorism, and nostalgia for times when political opponents could be attacked.
Leading the youth group into which the Fanpage.it journalist inserted herself are two of the most promising faces of the right’s future: Andrea Piepoli, already a member of the movement’s executive board and considered a candidate to succeed its president, Fabio Roscani, an FdI MP; and Flaminia Pace, head of the local chapter, who has been publicly praised by Arianna Meloni, the prime minister’s sister and the party’s political secretary. In the footage gathered by Fanpage.it, MPs Marco Perissa and Paolo Trancassini can be seen greeting each other with the gladiatorial salute inside the party headquarters, and MEP Nicola Procaccini doing the same with other leaders. It is the heads of the chapter, Pace and Piepoli, who cultivate the spirit of camaraderie among the young members, legitimizing references to the Fascist era and allowing fascist salutes and far-right concerts even inside the party branch.