Nationalist leaders are framing unrest as consequence of failed liberal governance and open borders

Europe’s far-right leaders have jumped on the violence that rocked numerous cities last weekend, framing it as the inevitable consequence of failed liberal governance and open-border policies and insisting only they can restore law and order.

Months away from key elections in Spain, France and Italy, authoritarian nationalists are eager to weaponise the wave of street unrest, originating in peaceful protests over the cost of living and deteriorating public services but hijacked by violent rioters.

Steigende Preise treiben Zehntausende auf die Straße, Lkw-Fahrer blockieren Autobahnen. Wie die sinkende Kaufkraft die Bürger im Alltag belastet – und was Regierungschefin Meloni dagegen unternimmt.

Government planning tougher security measures as France also says military forces will be deployed

• Why are people protesting across Europe?

Italy’s government is sending 500 soldiers to Milan and vowed a “firm response from the state” after protests against the cost of living descended into clashes with police, vandalism and looting. Further demonstrations are planned on Saturday.

The government of the far-right prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, also announced new security measures, including an offence of violent participation in ⁠a demonstration, tougher penalties for ⁠rioters, and financial liability for ​parents whose children take part in vandalism and looting.

In Mailand und anderen Großstädten schlagen friedliche Demonstrationen gegen hohe Lebenshaltungskosten in Gewalt um. Mehrere Bürgermeister sehen den „Gesellschaftsvertrag“ in Gefahr.

Rund um den Mailänder Dom plündern vermummte Jugendliche erneut Geschäfte, die Polizei setzt Wasserwerfer und Tränengas ein. Nun will Ministerpräsidentin Meloni über weitere Maßnahmen beraten.

If far right nationalists gain power in four big countries simultaneously, we are in for a dramatic Trumpian tilt

When it comes to Europe’s economy or its peace and security, it is obvious that decision-making has to be done largely at the European level to be meaningful. Yet electoral politics is still conducted mostly at the national level. The silver lining of this mismatch is that from country to country in Europe we have governments with different political priorities and leanings. Unlike in the US, where one presidential election can radically change the entire country’s course, as we have seen so vividly under Donald Trump’s leadership, the same drama has not so far unfolded in Europe. This may be about to change.

Pedro Sánchez rolled the dice in Spain last week, calling a snap election for next month after an unholy alliance of the conservative People’s party (PP), the far-right Vox and Catalan pro-independence party Junts blocked his big housing reform package in parliament. If the socialist prime minister, hailed by progressives globally but demonised by Europe’s right and Trump’s US, loses his election gamble, Spain could fall into the hands of a conservative/far-right coalition, which is currently ahead in the polls.

Nathalie Tocci is a Guardian Europe columnist

Parties vow to challenge law in court, arguing that extra reward for those with 42% of support distorts public representation

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A controversial overhaul to electoral law that critics say is aimed at boosting Giorgia Meloni’s chances of clinging on to power in elections next year has been given final approval by the Italian parliament.

Meloni, the Italian prime minister, says the new system, which introduces a fully proportional model, including bonus seats for any coalition that wins the most votes, will bring about greater political stability, while opposition parties argue that it mainly serves the interests of those in power.

Italiens Regierungschefin besteht die Vertrauensabstimmung: Das neue Gesetz soll die Mehrheit im Parlament besonders stabil machen. Doch ist es auch verfassungsgemäß?

Damit sichert sie zugleich die Zukunft ihrer Regierung. Die Opposition spricht vom „Melonellum“. Wem nützt das umstrittene neue Wahlrecht?

Sylvester Stallone kommt mit Kollege Richard Gere nicht klar, Giorgia Meloni lässt einen Satz als geistiges Eigentum schützen, und der Dinosaurier Jodi erleidet einen Marktwertverlust.

Maja T. wurde rechtskräftig wegen Gewalttaten in Budapest verurteilt. Weil die Auslieferung der non-binären Person nach Ungarn rechtswidrig war, wollen ihre Anwälte sie nach Deutschland überstellen lassen.

Italiens Ministerpräsidentin will unbedingt ein neues Wahlgesetz durchs Parlament bringen – dabei hat sie dort schon eine böse Überraschung erlebt. Jetzt stellt sie die Vertrauensfrage.

Critics say decree also banning burqa in schools shows Italian PM worried about losing far-right voters in next year’s elections

The Italian government has been accused of ramping up divisive rhetoric to try to court far-right voters ahead of next year’s general election after it passed a decree aimed at capping the number of newly arrived migrants in classrooms and banning the burqa and niqab in schools.

The prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, who leads the far-right Brothers of Italy party, said her government had approved what she called “commonsense measures that do not divide but genuinely help to integrate”.

Instead, constrain it legally and fight it politically. The world is watching

Far-right nationalist populist parties are making the running everywhere from Washington to Warsaw. So why be so alarmed about a little regional electoral victory for one such party, the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), in one federal state, Saxony-Anhalt? “Because it’s Germany!” is the almost instinctive answer in many heads around the world.

But that “because it’s Germany” needs to be taken apart, like the segments of an orange. Yes, because of Adolf Hitler, two dictatorships (Nazi Germany until 1945, communist-ruled East Germany until 1989) and two world wars. And yes, some of the language used by the AfD will give anyone familiar with Nazi rhetoric a cold shudder down the spine.

Timothy Garton Ash is a historian, political writer and Guardian columnist. His new book, Europe in 7 1/2 Chapters, is published in October

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Security experts fear Putin may be winning hybrid war with the west amid rise of pro-Kremlin, far-right parties

Defence planners working with Nato fear that if war broke out with Russia, Europe could not currently sustain a prolonged war of attrition owing to a public lack of war readiness, a conference on the future of European military coordination heard this week.

The pessimism reflects concern that Russia may be winning a so-called hybrid war with Europe, weakening the options available to Nato war planners in the event of military conflict.

Futuro Nazionale party’s speedy poll rise poses questions whether PM will return to her roots before election

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Giorgia Meloni’s government has become the longest-running in Italy since the second world war – a milestone the prime minister is determined not to let pass unnoticed.

In the port area of Bari, the capital of the southern Italian region of Puglia, where Meloni hosted the G7 in 2024 and where she spends her summer holiday, preparations are well under way for a festival-style showcase of her rightwing administration.

Tories accuse Reform of ‘peddling conspiracy theories’ as row erupts in wake of Conservative leader’s trip to Rome

Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch have spent years trading barbs and fighting for the rightwing vote. But now the party leaders find themselves in a much more bizarre struggle – for the affections of the rightwing Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni.

The row began on Monday when the Times published an article claiming that during a meeting in Rome, Meloni had advised the Conservative leader against doing a deal with Farage to unite the right. After complaints from Reform – and, reportedly, Meloni’s team – the article was amended to remove that claim.

Reform MP seeks to heap pressure on Tory leader amid confusion around details of meeting with Giorgia Meloni

Robert Jenrick has accused Kemi Badenoch of telling “a pack of lies” about her meeting with the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, as he launched a deeply personal attack on his former boss.

The Reform UK MP sought to heap pressure on the Conservative leader amid confusion about whether Meloni urged Badenoch at a meeting in Rome to “be her own woman” and resist doing a deal with his party.

Case of Abderrahim Fakir is first in which legal shield giving police greater protection from prosecution has been invoked

If, before 19 July, few people in Italy beyond his family and friends knew who Abderrahim Fakir was, by the late afternoon of that day the final moments of his life were being watched across the country.

Video footage widely shared online showed him being handcuffed and forcibly restrained by police on a street in Pilastro, a neighbourhood in the north-east of Bologna.

Bei einem Massaker tötete die SS im toskanischen Sant’Anna di Stazzema 1944 Hunderte Menschen. Erstmals räumt ein Minister der Meloni-Regierung eine Mitschuld ein – aus Kalkül?