Opinion | Giorgia Meloni Knows Exactly What Shes Doing

When Italy recently passed a law to punish people who seek a surrogate birth abroad with large fines and prison sentences, there was some outrage.But it didn’t seem to last very long.Sure, the law was vocally criticized by some progressive public figures: “Please someone explain to me how this is a crime?” the comedian Luciana Littizzetto asked on the popular evening show “Che Tempo Che Fa” (What’s the Weather Like?).

Elly Schlein, the leader of the center-left Democratic Party, called it “atrocious propaganda at the expense of children.” And Arcigay, Italy’s largest L.G.B.T.Q.+ association, slammed the law as “a grave negation of individual rights” and announced protests.But the day after the bill passed I checked the newspapers, expecting it to be the main news, and in many cases it wasn’t — several papers led with a story about budget cuts instead.Then it more or less disappeared from the news cycle and was confined to small, progressive circles on social media.It was another example of a pattern that has become familiar here: The government of Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s right-wing prime minister, does something that sparks an outcry among progressives and some media coverage, but fails to really outrage the wider public.

The policy stays, Ms.Meloni’s ratings remain strong, and Italy inches to the right with little more than a shrug.It’s well established that Ms.

Meloni, who has her political roots in the post-fascist Italian Social Movement, has successfully crafted a double identity as prime minister: moderate abroad, hard-liner at home.Internationally, her government has demonstrated unwavering support to Ukraine and NATO on the Russian invasion, for example, despite her having expressed support for Vladimir Putin in the past.But at home Ms.

Meloni has also had to thread a fine needle to advance her conservative agenda without alienating the Italian public.And so far, she’s succeeding: In a country where cabinets and positiv...