Abstract. The main event of 2022 in Italy is a resignation of the government of national unity of Mario Draghi and the coming to power of the center-right coalition led by the far-right party Giorgia Meloni. The imperative for the new government is to carry out the socio-economic reforms program inherited from Draghi (PNRR, 2021–2026), agreed with the European Union as part of its «New Generation EU» strategy and implemented with its significant financial support. This task contradicts Meloni’s sovereignist views and the group interests of a large part of the center-right electorate. The government’s concessions to the most traditionalist strata of the population do not agree well with the movement towards «modern conservatism» announced by Meloni.