An estimated 2,000 people marched on Sunday in Predappio, where Italian fascist dictator Mussolini was born and is buried. They marked the centenary of the March on Rome.
The event was organised to mark the centenary of the March on Rome, on 28 October 1922, which gave rise to the fascist regime in Italy.
Many participants wore black, recalling Mussolini’s Blackshirts. Also, some raised their arms to give the fascist salute despite being urged not to by organisers to avoid violating Italy’s “apology of fascism” laws.
Among the crowd were Orsola and Vittoria Mussolini, great-granddaughters of Il Duce. Participants sang fascist anthems including Faccetta Nera and queued up to buy Mussolini memorabilia, reports news agency ANSA.
The march “has been happening for years” and is thus different from a rave party at Modena that was broken up by the police, Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said on Monday. He had been asked by opposition politicians why the police had not intervened to stop the commemoration.
Meloni distances herself from Mussolini March
The celebration of Mussolini’s March on Rome at his birthplace at Predappio in Romagna “is politically something distant from me in a very significant way,” Premier Giorgia Meloni said Monday.
Meloni, Italy’s first woman premier, has condemned fascism and its “ignominious” Jewish laws as the low point of Italian history. She has said her rightwing Brothers of Italy (FdI) movement shares values with Republicans in the USA and Britain’s Conservative Party.
