Photo of Melonis angry with the secretary of state with a swastika armband

With the new government, Italy has gone too far politically. Now a picture puts the future foreign minister in jeopardy – again.

There’s a lot of excitement in Italy right now about an old photo: it shows the recently elected government’s designated secretary with a swastika armband. The photo showed Gallezo Bignami, politician from the ultra-right governing party Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy, FDI), in a black shirt and red sleeves. Several users shared the picture on Twitter and criticized Bignami.

The recording is said to have been taken during a bachelor party in 2005, as multiple media reported on Tuesday. Fratelli boss and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni want to make the 47-year-old secretary of state into the infrastructure ministry under the leadership of Lega boss Matteo Salvini. The swearing-in ceremony of the state secretaries is to be held on Wednesday.

According to various media reports, the photo was already doing the rounds in 2016. Bignami said on Monday that he was ashamed of the admission. However, it is absurd to republish personal photographs that are nearly 20 years old, for which he has apologized several times.