Italy's far-right general extends rise in opinion polls

ROME, July 24 - Italy's new far-right movement is maintaining strong momentum, an opinion survey showed on Friday, siphoning support from parties in the ruling coalition and complicating Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's re-election chances next year.

Futuro Nazionale, launched in February by former army general Roberto Vannacci after breaking away from the co-ruling League, is now Italy's fifth most popular party, according to pollster YouTrend.

Futuro Nazionale was seen at 7.6%, up more than one percentage point from July 3. It has long outpolled the League and is now closely trailing Forza Italia, the second-largest party in Meloni's coalition.

"It is now very close. At the start, the gap was more than four percentage points, but that has now virtually been erased," said YouTrend chief Lorenzo Pregliasco.

Meloni's Brothers of Italy remained the most popular party at 26.4%, although its support has slipped in recent weeks. A report by pollster Ipsos this month showed Vannacci drawing voters from the League and Brothers of Italy, as well as people who did not vote in the 2024 European election.

Vannacci advocates a hard-right populist platform. He stands for "remigration", or expelling immigrants and their descendants to their countries of origin, and pledges to defend traditional family values.

It remains unclear whether his party will eventually forge an alliance with Meloni's bloc ahead of the next election, an option that has so far drawn a cool response from coalition leaders.

The centre-left opposition is currently slightly ahead of Meloni's bloc, but that could change if Vannacci is included in the right-wing alliance. An average of polls last week had the opposition on 44.3% versus 42.2% for the ruling coalition.

According to YouTrend, nearly two-thirds of Vannacci's voters would favour an electoral pact with the centre-right, and a majority of Brothers of Italy supporters would also welcome it, but League and Forza Italia voters would be against it. REUTERS