Italy neofascists hang banner marking Mussolini’s march on Rome
Attitudes to Mussolini in Italy are more ambiguous than to Hitler in Germany
Neofascist militants in Italy on Friday hung a banner from a bridge near the Colosseum in Rome to mark the 100th anniversary of Benito Mussolini’s march on the city.
Local outlets reported that the militants belong to the National Movement, a far-right group dubbed "fellow travelers" of Italian neofascism.
On October 28, 1922, Mussolini's blackshirts entered Rome, marking the start of a fascist dictatorship still viewed today with some indulgence in Italy. The centenary of the so-called "March on Rome" came days after far-right leader Giorgia Meloni was named Italy's new prime minister, renewing debate on the legacy of fascism.
Although Meloni's Brothers of Italy party has neo-fascist roots, in her first speech to parliament this week she insisted she "never felt sympathy or closeness to undemocratic regimes... including fascism."
Yet, unlike in Germany or Spain, where only the extremist fringes still revere Adolf Hitler or the Franco dictatorship, attitudes to Mussolini in Italy are more ambiguous.
As recently as 2013, then-prime minister Silvio Berlusconi said the racial laws against Jews were "the worst mistake of a leader, Mussolini, who in many other ways had done well."