Salvini: the wind is changing, I feel it

In view of the European Parliament elections, the Northern League’s head feels optimistic, according to the numbers, and will focus his campaign on the €-exit

Matteo Salvini is optimistic about the forthcoming European Parliament elections: “The tide has changed, there is a movement I feel…Europe is our focus and I feel there is a U-turn in our favour,” he said, showing an SWG survey.

The Northern League’s head is a MEP, and has invited some Italian journalists at the restaurant of the European Parliament (just some of us Italian Brussel’s correspondents…who knows why?) to inaugurate his European campaign. The meeting dealt also with other issues, though: “There is going to be an election day,” he said, “two thirds of the Italian mayors are to be elected in northern Italy, and Europe is an important issue for citizens: I think this time we’ll have an high turnout.” Territorially speaking, the NL hopes to “keep our outgoing 200 mayors at least, and maybe get some more,” explained the LN’s head.

Talking about European Parliament elections, Salvini is the first Italian party leader to meet the journalists; he announced the Northern League has decided to join Marine Le Pen’s party, even if “we share only European interests with her, while nationally speaking we will develop our policies individually.” In fact, Le Pen is both centralist and pro-state, but this does not affect the Northern League: they share the idea that “the only legitimate institution representing European citizens is the European Parliament, not the EU Commission, which is illegitimate and for which we are not presenting any candidate.”

The electoral campaign in Italy is to start on 8 February: the project is illustrated on an A4-paper full of handwritings and corrections, held in Salvini’s pockets. Decided just few hours before, “it will be the ‘No Euro tour’,” says Salvini. “Starting from Milan, we will be in several other cities, such as Turin, Genoa, Bologna, Florence, maybe even Rome.” The tour will include moments to be shared with Marine Le Pen, “in Italy and in France,” and with the other Dutch, Austrian, Finnish partner parties, sharing the same target: the €-exit. “This is something neither Grillo nor Berlusconi are going to support. We are the only option,” said Salvini.

The issue is going to obtain a serious theoretical base, “on February 8 we are presenting an instant book by Claudio Borghi, explaining the situation we are in and trying to say how it is possible to get out of the single currency system.” There are “three” options, said Salvini, who is keeping the lid on them. For sure he would like to go further in is battle for the “No € movement”, and said, “I’d also like to meet professor Guarino, and maybe some Nobel who has expressed his ideas against the single currency.”

Even Alexis Tsipras, leader of the Greek left wing party, expressed several doubts on the system, but “he’s interesting in many respects, but it is not possible to mediate on the €-exit: you can either die into the € system or try to save you outside.”

 Lor