ROME – The great grandson of Il Duce, Caio Giulio Cesare Mussolini, will stand as a Brothers of Italy (Fratelli d’Italia) candidate in the European elections, leader of the conservative party Giorgia Meloni has announced in a Facebook video.

 Speaking in front of the “square Colosseum” in Rome’s EUR neighbourhood, which showcases Fascist architecture, ex-navy officer and former executive of high-tech multinational company Finmeccanica in the Middle East, Mr Mussolini said he shared the values of the Meloni-led Brothers of Italy party in terms of “recovery of our sovereignty and defense of the family.”

 “I am not fascist,” the 50-year-old grandson of Benito Mussolini’s son Vittorio told Corriere della Sera. 

 “My grandfather used to say the fascists were those who had fought at the time. I would leave history to the historians,” Mr Mussolini said. “I think that continuing to dig up the past is a mistake. We must think that fascism died with Mussolini. I will stand in the south and this territory will be my priority.”

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