Europe's unelected authoritarian ruler, Ursula von der Leyen, is not going to be happy: according to early exit polls out of Italy's national election, the right-wing bloc of Giorgia Meloni - which the ultra-left wing press just can't stop comparing to Mussolini - is set for a historic, if largely expected, victory and a clear majority (if, however, not a super-majority) which will propel Meloni to the top of the Italian government as the country's next prime minister, ushering in a historic right-wing shift for a country that - like Sweden until two weeks ago - has traditionally been very left-wing.

Meloni's Brothers of Italy party, which won just 4% of the vote during the last national election in 2018, won the biggest share of the vote in Sunday's parliamentary elections with around 22.5%-26.5% of the vote according to an exit poll released by Italian national broadcaster Rai.