On Wednesday, Lega leader Matteo Salvini met with Brothers of Italy (FdI) leader Giorgia Meloni in FdI’s offices at the Lower House, where she is reportedly working on her agenda and government team after she won Sunday’s general election at the helm of a centre-right bloc including Lega and ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia (FI).

After the meeting, a joint FdI and Lega statement said there had been “great collaboration and unity of intent” at the meeting, the first of its kind.

“Both leaders expressed satisfaction for the trust given by the Italians to the coalition and reaffirmed the great sense of responsibility that this result entails.

“Meloni and Salvini analysed the situation, their priorities and urgencies on the government’s and parliament’s agenda, also in light of the complex situation that Italy is experiencing.”

It was the first public meeting between the two since Meloni’s resounding success in the elections.

Salvini is facing quit calls after Lega performed much worse than its right-wing partner, but most supporters want him to stay on as Lega leader.

Lega got around 9 per cent of Sunday’s vote compared to 26 per cent for FdI, and 8 per cent for the other party in the bloc, three-time former premier and media magnate Berlusconi’s FI.

At the last Italian elections in 2018 FdI got around 4 per cent while in 2019, Lega surged to 34 per cent in the European elections amid Salvini’s popular anti-migrant policies as interior minister.

Salvini is reportedly keen to get back to denying charity migrant rescue ships ports of call as Meloni’s interior minister, but his position has been weakened by Lega’s relatively poor performance in the elections.

Meloni’s ‘post-Fascist’ party surged thanks to remaining in opposition over the last few years, especially to Mario Draghi’s national-unity government, Italian pollsters say.

FdI greatly outperformed the Lega even in the formerly secessionist party’s northern heartlands on Sunday.

Earlier in the week, Meloni also pledged her full support for Kyiv after receiving congratulations from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for her election victory.

In a Tweet late on Tuesday, Zelenskiy said he was looking forward to “fruitful cooperation with the new government”.

Meloni replied swiftly. “Dear (Zelenskiy), you know that you can count on our loyal support for the cause of freedom of Ukrainian people. Stay strong and keep your faith steadfast!” she wrote in English on Twitter.

Meloni has been one of the few Italian political leaders to wholeheartedly endorse outgoing Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s decision to ship weapons to Ukraine, even though she was in opposition to his government.

By contrast, Lega and Forza Italia, which were both in Draghi’s coalition, have been much more ambivalent, reflecting their historically close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Underscoring the depth of those ties, Forza Italia leader Silvio Berlusconi said last week that Putin had been “pushed” into invading Ukraine and had wanted to put “decent people” in charge of Kyiv. 

― With AAP.