Galeazzo Bignami, recently appointed as Deputy Minister of Infrastructure by Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, has been embroiled in controversy over the publication of an old photograph in which he appears wearing a Nazi armband.
The photograph in question shows Bignami — a member of Meloni’s party, Brothers of Italy — wearing a black shirt, a symbol of Italian fascism, and a red armband with a swastika, also a symbol of Nazi Germany.
According to information published earlier Tuesday by the Italian press, the photo of Bignami, 47, was allegedly taken in 2005 during a bachelor party and had already been circulating since 2016.
Meloni appointed Bignami on Monday as deputy minister and secretary of state of the Ministry of Infrastructure, led by the far-right Matteo Salvini.
However, this controversy may jeopardize Bignami’s final appointment, as the swearing-in of state secretaries is scheduled for Wednesday.
On Monday Bignami acknowledged feeling embarrassed by the image in question, although he criticized and called absurd the publication of a private photograph almost 20 years later and for which, he says, he had previously apologized.
Several public figures in Italian politics, such as the mayor of Naples, Luigi de Magistris, have reacted to the controversy by calling on Prime Minister Meloni to reverse the appointment of Bignami as deputy infrastructure minister.
