A gun casing is pictured on cobblestones after Police shot in the tyres of a car that failed to stop at a halt and broke through barriers on Via Paulo VI in Rome at the border of The Vatican on June 1
9, 2022. - The fugitive was later arrested by Police. In Europe, political analysts are pointing to Sweden and Italy as possible harbingers of a political mood shift across the continent drivenThe startlingly strong performance of the far-right Sweden Democrats in this month's Swedish parliamentary elections and
At a glance, the two countries share relatively few commonalities. Sweden is a wealthy, cohesive welfare state, which over the past 90 years has typically been led by leftist coalition governments. By comparison, Italy’s economy, which is burdened by massive debt, is reeling. Costs of living are soaring, and over the past decade, its government has changed nearly every 18 months. But in both places, rising crime and misgivings about immigrants are prompting a political realignment.
."The increase in gun homicide in Sweden is closely linked to criminal milieux in socially disadvantaged areas," according to the report. In Italy, a Sept. 25 snap election necessitated by the July collapse of the government of Prime Minister Mario Draghi seems likely to result in the most conservative leadership there since Benito Mussolini seized power in 1922. The likely new prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, has also run on an anti-immigrant platform, vowing to mobilize the Italian navy to prevent African refugees from reaching her country.