Candidates for the European Parliament caught making Mussolini's torture gestures and Nazi salutes

Gen Vannacci was filmed doing 'Decima X' gesture, symbol of Mussolini's fascist paratroopers, linked to torture and abuse

A leading far-right candidate for the European Parliament has been convicted of using a gesture in support of Mussolini's fearsome paratroopers.

< p>General Roberto Vannacci, an aspiring Italian politician, was filmed urging voters ahead of this week's elections to mark their ballot with a «Decima X» sign while crossing their arms.

Decima Mas, or X MAS, is a fascist a unit of naval commandos that attacked British and Allied forces in the Mediterranean during World War II and later.

General Vanacci's cheeky mention of them comes amid growing support for the far right ahead of elections from June 6 to 9, as voters seek more radical solutions to cope with rising costs of living, the energy crisis and illegal migration. .

General Roberto Vannacci, an aspiring Italian politician, made the gesture as support for the far right surges ahead of European elections Photo: Claudio Furlan/LaPresse/Shutterstock

Meanwhile in France, Jean-Yves Kennec, a former candidate for the French National Front party, was arrested for making a Nazi salute and shouting «Heil Hitler» during a debate on immigration.

Polls predict two radicals. The right-wing parliamentary groups Identity and Democracy and the European Conservatives and Reformists will add between 30 and 50 seats, increasing to 22 to 25 percent from the current 18 percent.

General Vannacci, a decorated veteran of the Iraq wars and Afghanistan, is running as a candidate for the far-right League party.

It followed his suspension earlier this year by Georgia Meloni's government for publishing a book denigrating immigrants, feminists, homosexuals and environmentalists.

Releasing a short video message to voters at the weekend, he said: «When you go to vote in the European Parliament elections, draw an X on the card on the League symbol and write Vannacci.»

Making an X, he added: «We will beat everyone with an avalanche of votes. See you soon so we can change this Europe we don't like.»

Deeply offensive.

The video was posted on social media by his supporters before being picked up by the press. Angelo Bonelli, an Italian lawmaker and spokesman for the Green Europe Party, called the message «absurd and unacceptable» and deeply offensive to the victims of fascism.

Piero De Luca, a lawmaker from the center-left Democratic Party, accused the candidate of «throwing away the mask completely» to evoke memories of the notorious Second World Military Command. Europe's shift to the right has raised fears that Russia and China are using sympathetic MEPs to conduct propaganda and spy on their behalf.

One of them, Maximilian Kra, who was a leading candidate for the German AfD party in the EU elections, announced he would stop campaigning and resign from his party's leadership amid investigations into his ties to Russia and China.

Kennec, 69, sparked outrage on Friday night in the Breton town of Roporden, where he spoke in support of far-right politics .

“He got angry himself,” said one of the spectators at the city’s cultural center. «His speech began to become very unpleasant, and when the audience reacted, he gave the Nazi salute and shouted 'Heil Hitler!' before walking away.»

This happened just before the European Parliament elections, which, as expected to take place. a huge success for the former National Front, which changed its name to the National Rally (Rassemblement Nationale) in 2018.