Roberto Vannacci has gone in just three years from being a practically unknown general outside military circles to becoming one of the main political problems for Giorgia Meloni. The retired Italian military man, 57 years old, now leads Futuro Nacional, an extreme right-wing formation that polls already place above Matteo Salvini's League and Forza Italia, two of the parties that support the current Italian Government.
His rise began in 2023 with the publication of The World Upside Down, a book that became an editorial phenomenon and is characterized, according to El País, by racist, sexist, and homophobic arguments. The popularity gained led the League to incorporate him as a candidate for the 2024 European elections, in which he obtained 555,980 personal votes thanks to the open list system. The maneuver ended up backfiring on Salvini: in February 2026, Vannacci left the formation and founded his own party.
From elite general to political leader
Before entering politics, Vannacci developed a long career in the Italian Armed Forces. He was the commander of an elite paratrooper unit, participated in missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, and served as military attaché at the Italian Embassy in Moscow between 2020 and 2022. This military trajectory is now part of his political identity: he advocates for a greater presence of the Army in society and proposes to introduce military training in schools and courses on "defense and national security" in higher education.
Futuro Nacional held its first congress in June and already has eight deputies from parties in the government coalition, whose members call themselves "futurists." In recent weeks, the formation has published an extensive program with which Vannacci attempts to occupy a political space even further to the right than Brothers of Italy and the League.
What his "Mediterranean patriarchy" means
One of the concepts that has caused the most controversy is the so-called "Mediterranean patriarchy". Vannacci presents it as a model aimed at forming "strong men" capable of controlling their emotions and protecting women, within a vision of society based on the traditional family, national identity, and Christian culture.
Based on that idea, the program proposes measures such as restricting the presence of LGTBI people on television for a large part of the day, eliminating civil unions and the crime of femicide, or stopping the consideration of abortion as a right. It also proposes that each child grant their parents additional ballots and lowering the age of criminal liability for minors from 14 to 12 years.
The party also uses explicitly nostalgic and nationalist rhetoric, with references to Roman and Christian tradition and appeals to concepts such as "ardor, virtue, and sacrifice." Vannacci has also resorted to symbols and expressions historically linked to Italian fascism, although in some cases he has denied that interpretation.
Immigration: 20 years to obtain citizenship
Immigration is another of the pillars of its project. Futuro Nacional proposes a "remigration" plan of 22 points, which includes expelling certain foreigners when their work contracts end, restricting access to social aid, and tightening repatriation procedures.
To obtain Italian citizenship, the party proposes to require 20 years of residence, passing an Italian exam, and signing a declaration of "assimilation to Greek, Roman, and Christian civilization." It also intends to favor entry permits for people from predominantly Christian countries over other origins.
Why Giorgia Meloni is concerned
The problem for Meloni is not only ideological but also electoral. The polls cited by El País place Futuro Nacional between 8% and 12% of voting intention, while the League hovers around 4.4% and Forza Italia at 7.1%. If those figures were maintained in an election, Vannacci would become the second force of the Italian right, only behind Brothers of Italy.
The biggest loser would be Matteo Salvini. The League had recruited the general precisely to take advantage of his popularity and now observes how the new party threatens to absorb a substantial part of its electorate. For Meloni, the dilemma is different: confronting Vannacci head-on could force her to moderate and distance herself from part of the political space from which she comes, but incorporating him into a future coalition would mean living with a partner difficult to control.
The situation even affects the electoral reform that the Government is preparing for the 2027 elections. One of the options being studied involves introducing a double round between the two most voted coalitions, a system that could leave Futuro Nacional out in the second round and favor its voters ending up supporting Meloni. The risk is that, precisely because of that expectation, Vannacci concentrates even more protest votes in the first round.
His relationship with Russia also generates controversy
His time as a military attaché in Moscow and his positions on the war in Ukraine have opened another front. Vannacci opposes the sending of weapons to Kiev and bets on restoring relations with Vladimir Putin. The Financial Times even defined him as "the Trojan horse of Russia in Italy," according to information from El País.
Futuro Nacional also faces two complaints filed by a military union. A prosecutor in Rome is studying whether there could be an attempt at reconstitution of the fascist party, a crime provided for in Italian legislation, while the military jurisdiction analyzes the presence of active members of the Armed Forces within the party's leadership. The party's lawyers deny that there is any criminal incompatibility.
Vannacci uses those investigations to fuel his discourse against the system and presents himself as a politician outside of traditional parties. His skill on social media, his constant resort to provocation, and an agenda positioned to the right of the current coalition have done the rest. With just over a year until the next elections, the former general is no longer an anomaly within Italian politics: he is a competitor capable of changing Meloni's calculations and, above all, putting serious problems on Salvini's League.