Giorgia Meloni’s government has conferred Italian citizenship on Javier Milei in a sign of the growing rapport between the two hard-Right leaders.

Mr Milei, Argentina’s libertarian president, is in Rome to attend the annual festival of Ms Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party. He has Italian roots through his grandparents, and his sister and chief advisor Karine Milei has also been given citizenship.

Last month, Mr Milei gave the Italian prime minister a statuette of himself wielding a chainsaw – his trademark move at campaign rallies.