After a steady first 100 days, choppier waters await Giorgia Meloni

Few governments approach the end of their first 100 days in such good shape as Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing coalition. In the run-up to that milestone on January 31st, Ms Meloni held convivial meetings with both Ursula von der Leyen and Pope Francis. These were seen in Italy as endorsements from the European Commission, which Mrs von der Leyen heads, and the Vatican—two organisations that Italian prime ministers always need to keep on their side. Then, on January 16th, came a different sort of gift for a government vaunting a tough line on law and order: police in Sicily nabbed Italy’s most wanted man, Matteo Messina Denaro, a Mafia boss who had evaded capture for 30 years.

Despite having only ten weeks to do it, the government also successfully framed and steered through parliament a budget for 2023. And it claims to have met the conditions for the payment in the weeks ahead of a third tranche of grants and soft loans worth €19bn ($21bn) from the EU’s post-pandemic recovery fund.