To the Right of the Far Right: Agendas and Appeals

On 13 June 2026, Roberto Vannacci held the constituent assembly of a new political party: Futuro Nazionale (National Future). The former general, whose views stand to the right of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and who has at times been considered neo-fascist, had already stirred Italian public opinion with the ideas expressed in his 2023 book The World Upside Down (Il Mondo al Contrario). Some of Vannacci’s political proposals are unconstitutional, yet they are not far removed from those of the Polish far-right party Konfederacja. Why is there a demand for parties with ever more extreme agendas? Do “traditional” far-right parties moderate their positions once in power, or do voters increasingly identify with more radical views regarding women, Jews, Israel, Russia, migrants, people with disabilities, and other groups? Are these parties isolated, or have they formed international networks of like-minded organisations that extend far beyond Europe? How influential are US political thinkers and influencers in the spread of these extreme ideas? Forti and Zbytniewska will explore these questions from different angles and geographical contexts. SPEAKERS: Steven Forti is an Italian historian and author. He teaches Contemporary History at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. His research focuses on fascism, populism, nationalism, and the far right in the contemporary era. Karolina Zbytniewska is Editor-in-Chief of FocusEurope.pl, a lecturer and researcher at the University of Warsaw, and a Research Fellow at the CEU Democracy Institute, specialising in populism and political communication. She is based in Warsaw. Nina Horaczek is a political scientist, author and chief reporter for the Austrian weekly newspaper FALTER. She has been researching the rise of right-wing extremism in Austria and Europe for many years, with a particular focus on the Freedom Party. CONCEPT & MODERATION: Mirjana Tomic (fjum/Presseclub Concordia) COOPERATION PARTNERS: Presseclub Concordia https://concordia.at ERSTE Stiftung https://www.erstestiftung.org fjum https://fjum-wien.at