ROME, June 18 - Italy's new far-right political force, Futuro Nazionale, has overtaken the more established League party for the first time, a survey by pollster YouTrend showed on Thursday. It caps weeks of steady gains for former army general Roberto Vannacci's movement.

• Futuro Nazionale was seen at 5.9% against the League's 5.8%, broadly in line with other recent surveys putting it at around 5% and showing a clear upward trend.

• Founded in February after Vannacci along with a small group of lawmakers split from the League, part of Italy's ruling coalition, Futuro Nazionale aims to supplant it as Italy's leading far-right party.

• The group is outside the ruling coalition, but its rise at the League's expense is complicating Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's bid to retain power at an election due next year.

• It remains unclear whether Meloni could strike an electoral pact with Vannacci. This week she accused him of fracturing the right and boosting the centre-left's chances.

• "We get our best surveys when we're out in the squares with Roberto Vannacci ... let's keep our feet on the ground and continue on our path," Futuro Nazionale lawmaker Rossano Sasso told Reuters.

• The poll also confirmed Meloni's Brothers of Italy as the country's most popular party at 27.8%, followed by the main opposition Democratic Party (PD) at 22.2%. REUTERS

Italy's emerging far-right party overtakes League for first time, poll shows