The two faces of Prof. Vannacci, caught between Salvini and Brussels

Vannacci, the forgetful one from Viareggio. What did he say when the AfD was expelled from the ID Group by votes from the Lega? He replied: ‘I won’t comment’. And what does he actually produce in the European Parliament, apart from videos featuring fur hats and circus-style tunics? Zero measures as lead rapporteur. He is changing his stripes: from “scum” general to “purge” general, and he is also lecturing police officers in Turin. He has expelled Luca Sforzini, the “zero ideologue,” who was locked in a battle with the “number one ideologue,” Lorenzo Gasperini (the Giovanni Gentile with the Gorgia), and is now trying to take down Massimo Magliaro, the president of the Almirante Foundation. He does not wish to ally himself with Meloni’s right wing; he aims to destroy it.

Only a beleaguered Salvini (Francesca Verdini has entered the fray with a very long Instagram post) – well, only a Salvini at the end of his rope could have Vannacci give him a dressing-down. The AfD wins, and what does Vannacci do? He posts a video to rebuke the Lega, the party that got him elected and bought that dreadful book of his – the very party which, two years ago, together with the Rassemblement National, ousted the AfD from the Identity and Democracy group – and adds: “This is the Lega’s consistency, and this confirms the correctness of my decision to leave that political camp.” As usual, the video is characteristic of a general on holiday, just like the long list of videos he has posted this summer. He has been in shorts non-stop for months, and even in Cernobbio the real story is not the Vannacci–Monti clash, but Vannacci greeting Salvini and looking for toast – an English-style breakfast.

John Foreman told Antonello Guerrera, in La Repubblica, in an interview that documents the general’s self-indulgence better than a thousand investigations: “We went to Balzi Rossi, the best Italian restaurant in Moscow, with him, the French and other Europeans. Delicious food, and it was Vannacci who was treating us, at the expense of Italian taxpayers”. Sylvie Lubamba, a member of Vannacci’s ‘Ventennio’ circle who hopes to stand as a candidate, informed Il Foglio that “the general is fond of fish in crust”. Her aim is not remigration, but the sweet life of an active pensioner. Now that the AfD has won by a ‘landslide’ in Saxony, Vannacci is claiming it as his own, yet it was Vannacci who, when asked the exact question (as seen in the video by influencer and journalist Robby Giusti, in which right-wing activists turn away), preferred to remain silent, dodge the issue, and say: ‘I won’t comment’.

In Orvieto, from the 18th to the 20th, he is seeking to build bridges with the AfD whilst also engaging in cultural and economic hijacking. He has invited Cesare Pozzi, an economist from LUISS University and a lecturer who has collaborated with FdI, to offer his insights and proposals. Why is he doing this? He is using the same method he employed with Salvini: he infiltrates and takes over. He practises the very ethnic replacement he denounces, even when he shows people the door: “If anyone thinks they can use Futuro Nazionale for their own personal ambitions (…), they must know that we have the defences here to block any sabotage”. The purge of Sforzini, the ‘zero ideologue’, who had offered his castle to Vannacci (he is also about to expel Ruvolo, the entrepreneur who had offered him the headquarters in San Lorenzo in Lucina, Rome), raises a smile but also reveals how this party operates. Communications within Futuro Nazionale take the form of military-style bulletins; no one, not even MPs, is aware of its agenda. In practice, nobody knows what the next moves will be until they are issued as orders. There is no need to invoke the Scelba Law. The nature and entire organisation are military in character. If one were to use Vannacci’s method and ask the artificial intelligence – the one his foot soldiers use to generate prank videos set in ancient Rome – one would discover that there is no trace of the party in Europe. Try asking the AI. It will tell you that Vannacci plays the role of Europe’s ‘umarell’; he is present, he speaks in the Chamber to rehash his social media posts, but he has never been a lead rapporteur, nor has he ever produced any legislative proposals. Over the years, he has been shadow rapporteur seven times and has done nothing but table amendments. Vannacci writes, Vannacci makes videos. Vannacci says that “the centre-right without the FN doesn’t reach 42 per cent. It’s not propaganda but arithmetic” and that “the centre-right, if it wants to govern and not hand Italy over to the left, will have to come to terms with the Italians. With the very same Italians it has disappointed up to now. And therefore, with us too’”. He fails to come to terms with Vannacci, the Pulcinella figure pitted against the MEP. In Turin, unbeknownst to Piantedosi – whom the right is calling to account – Vannacci was invited to give a masterclass on urban security, just as he gives Salvini one on consistency. He is dangerous, and not (only) because he is a fan of vodka and of Russia’s invasion, but because he resembles the indolent, the Socrates of creative idleness, the eternal multitude who believe that ‘those who can do, do; those who cannot, teach’.