The election to an influential post of an outspoken neo-fascist who fought for wartime dictator Benito Mussolini is likely to prompt more concern about neo-fascist influence in the new Italian government.
Last week, Mirko Tremaglia, 67, was elected chairman of the Foreign Affairs Commission of Italy’s lower house of Parliament, the Chamber of Deputies, by members of the commission.
Tremaglia is a member of the neo-fascist Italian Social Movement, which was formed after World War II by supporters of Mussolini.
According to the biography of Tremaglia issued by Parliament, from 1943 to 1945 he fought for the Republic of Salo, Mussolini’s puppet fascist state in German-occupied northern Italy. The Salo republic was established after the Allies liberated the southern parts of the country.
The Italian Social Movement is the core party of the right-wing National Alliance movement, which forms a key part of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s right-wing coalition.
The National Alliance is represented in the current government with five of the Cabinet’s 25 ministers.
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