Whether out of a sense of heritage or opportunism, Jordan Bardella has, in recent months, looked to Italy, the homeland of three of his grandparents, for inspiration. One name often comes up in the speeches of Marine Le Pen's "Plan B": Italian government leader Giorgia Meloni.

Yet Meloni is not an ally of their far-right Rassemblement National (RN) party. Instead, Le Pen has always preferred to align herself with the Italian populist Matteo Salvini, whom she recently visited in Rome on May 11, and who, on June 9, will participate in an RN rally. Le Pen and Salvini are linked by a friendly loyalty and several fundamental principles: intense populism, an obsession with Islam, rejection of immigration, distrust of the European Union, and historically close ties to Russia.

Bardella, on the other hand, is solely focused on Meloni's brand of national conservatism, with its economically liberal policies – even though he sits in the European Parliament with members of Salvini's Lega. This has raised eyebrows among some Le Pen loyalists: "Giorgia Meloni has shown results, and may be a respectable European model, but that's not our line. And, if there is an attempt to abandon the populist line, then that's dangerous," said one influential MP.

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