FILE PHOTO: Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini attend the upper house of parliament ahead of a confidence vote for the new government, in Rome, Italy, October 26, 2022. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane/File Photo
ROME (Reuters) - Five years ago, Matteo Salvini confirmed his status as a rising star of European far-right politics when his League party swept a third of the vote in Italian EU parliamentary elections.
His fortunes have since waned even as Italians have ushered in their most right-wing government since World War Two, his popularity eclipsed by the ascent to power of his ally Giorgia Meloni and her nationalist Brothers of Italy party.
