Italy is monitoring potential Russian interference in the elections

“ ANDwe are always fully committed to ensuring the security of this nation in all respects,” Meloni said in statements to the RAI television station on the day she became the longest-lived head of the government in the history of the Italian Republic.

“So we are monitoring everything that needs to be monitored. There are many things that concern us, but we are monitoring them all,” the Prime Minister assured, after on Wednesday, Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani warned that Moscow could try to influence the outcome of the Italian legislative elections next year.

The head of Italian diplomacy said that it does not exclude “tempts by the Russian Federation to interfere in the democratic life of the countries of the European Union, interfering in free democratic elections, trying to influence the will of the people with this reprehensible activity”, even because there are “precedents”.

“ I am convinced that this can happen, and that is why we need to intervene in time. We must be vigilant, we must prevent such actions by a country with which we are not at war,” Tajani said, stressing that the Italian authorities have long been preparing for this possible scenario.

On Thursday, Italy’s Department of Security Information (DIS) also ensured that measures were taken to protect the 2027 legislative elections, in the face of a threat that, he said, “regards not only Italy, but all the countries that will hold elections in 2026 and 2027”.

“ To this end, following the recommendations of COPASIR (Parliamentary Information Services Supervisory Body), a series of measures was implemented to protect the freedom of the democratic electoral process,” Vittorio Rizzi, Director General of the DIS, said today the central body that coordinates the Italian intelligence system and secret services.