After weeks of silence regarding revelations about the Fratelli d’Italia (FdI) youth group, which praised Mussolini and far-right terrorists, Senate President Ignazio La Russa condemned the acts. Pressure is mounting on Giorgia Meloni, who remains silent on the matter.

In a Facebook post, La Russa, President of the Senate and co-founder of the Fratelli d’Italia, strongly condemned all forms of racism and anti-Semitism, adding that the incidents were contrary to the party’s values.

The Italian news agency Fanpage carried out investigative research into the youth wing of the Fratelli d’Italia (FdI) and published undercover footage showing the Roman salute, young people praising Mussolini and chanting fascist slogans.

La Russa’s statement came after a leading representative of the Gioventù Nazionale (Nationalist Youth) made anti-Semitic remarks about the Fratelli d’Italia senator and former spokesperson for Rome’s Jewish community, Ester Mieli, in front of a hidden camera in the second part of the report.

“My sincere and warm-hearted solidarity goes to the senator and friend Ester Mieli, who has been the victim of unacceptable statements by some members of the Gioventù Nazionale,” he wrote. FdI changes position within a few hours

On Wednesday, Giovanni Donzelli, the head of the FdI organization, also changed his tone.

In the afternoon, he initially declared that he did not believe “the one-sided research of the radical left-wing press”. The attempt to portray the Fratelli d’Italia as an extremist and nostalgic movement was pathetic, Donzelli said.

But in the evening, after the publication of the second part of the investigation, there was a U-turn and disciplinary measures were even announced.

“We repeat: There is no place for racists, extremists and anti-Semites at Fratelli d’Italia. The statements heard in the videos published today, regardless of the way they were recorded and published, are unacceptable and incompatible with the values of our political movement […] Fratelli d’Italia will act with great determination against those responsible”. Meloni and public broadcaster in the spotlight

In light of the second video, which shows homophobia, racism, nostalgia for Benito Mussolini, sympathy for Adolf Hitler and National Socialism within the FdI youth group, the opposition continues to demand a statement from Giorgia Meloni on the fan page investigation.

Many are also calling for the public broadcaster Rai to broadcast the investigation, as it has been reported on all channels and in all newspapers except Rai.

In response, several associations and parties organized a demonstration in front of the Rai headquarters in Turin on Wednesday evening to show solidarity with the editorial team of RaiNews24. The latter had recently complained about the public broadcaster’s lack of coverage of the investigation.

“If we can’t watch it on Rai, then we’ll watch it on Rai,” was the slogan of the initiative, which showed the second part of the investigation on a big screen.