Analysis: A Meloni election win could shift Europe's balance of power

FILE PHOTO: Lega (League) leader Matteo Salvini, Forza Italia leader Silvio Berlusconi and Brothers of Italy leader Giorgia Meloni react during the closing electoral campaign rally of the centre-right's coalition in Piazza del Popolo, ahead of the September 25 general election, in Rome, Italy, September 22, 2022. REUTERS/Yara Nardi/

PARIS/BERLIN/BUDAPEST (Reuters) - The European Union's powerhouses will have to tread carefully around Giorgia Meloni if the nationalist candidate's coalition wins Italy's election on Sunday, or risk pushing Rome towards Hungary and Poland, European officials said.

At play is the balance of power inside the EU as it contends with the fallout from Russia's war on Europe's eastern flank and the continent's worst energy and cost-of-living crises in decades.