First published at 21:31 UTC on January 12th, 2019.
Matteo Salvini: Italy is the engine of the EU Renaissance
Italy's firebrand deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini is trying to create a populist alliance to take on the Brussels establishment in a showdown over the future of the European Union.…
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Matteo Salvini: Italy is the engine of the EU Renaissance
Italy's firebrand deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini is trying to create a populist alliance to take on the Brussels establishment in a showdown over the future of the European Union.
Mr Salvini, who leads the nationalist, anti-immigrant League party, pledged to create a “new European spring” ahead of the European Parliament elections in May and to work with Poland’s ruling populists. He pledged to rally Eurosceptic allies to take on the likes of French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel and forge a “new equilibrium” to challenge the traditional pro-EU axis between Paris and Berlin.
Mr Salvini believes he has much in common with Poland’s populists, including opposition to accepting migrants and criticism of the way in which Brussels imposes rules on national budgets.
But his admiration and support for Vladimir Putin has put him at odds with some in Poland where opposition leader
Grzegorz Schetyna branded the Lega party a "nationalist, radical and pro-Russian party."
Speaking alongside his Polish counterpart Joachim Brudzinski during a visit to Warsaw, Mr Salvini said: "The Europe that will be born in June will have a different pace compared to the one of today, which is guided by bureaucrats.
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