Di Maio slams Medvedev 'interference' in election campaign

(ANSA) - ROME, AUG 18 - Foreign Minister and centrist Civic Commitment (IC) leader Luigi Di Maio on Thursday decried alleged interference in Italy's September 25 general election campaign by former Russian president and current deputy chair of its national security council Dmitri Medvedev who urged Europeans to punish their governments for their "stupidity".
    Medvedev, right-hand man to Russian President Vladimir Putin, said on telegram, "we'd like to see European citizens (at the polls) not only expressing their malcontent for the actions of their governments. ..but also punishing them for their evident stupidity".
    He added "the voters' votes are a powerful lever of influence".
    The outgoing national unity Italian government led by Premier Mario Draghi fully backed Western sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine as well as sending arms to Kyiv.
    Even the only major opposition party, the post-fascist Brothers of Italy (FdI), took a strongly pro-NATO and pro-EU stance over the war.
    Two parties in the Draghi government who had previously lauded Putin, Matteo Salvini's League and Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia (FI), also unequivocally condemned Russian aggression.
    In response to Medvedev, Di Maio said "the Russian government's interference in the Italian elections is really concerning.
    "May the Italian political forces distance themselves in a clear way, without any timidity, from Russian propaganda".
    Di Maio said Medvedev had given a "clear indication on how to vote," referring to the fact that FdI was not in Draghi's government.
    Di Maio added: "We are working to diversify the sources of our gas supplies, because you can't depend on those who, with the money of the Italians, is funding the bloody war in Ukraine." He repeated a long-standing Italian call, which has so far not met with success, for the EU to set a price cap on gas.
    The Italian government has been working hard to end the nation's reliance on Russian gas since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, reaching and preparing a series of agreements to boost supplies from elsewhere.
    The proportion of Italy's gas supplied by Moscow has already fallen from 40% at the start of the conflict to around 25% now, sources said recently.
    Algeria's share has risen to over 30%.
    The Italian government has "moved rapidly" to diversify suppliers by scrambling to set up alternatives with countries like Algeria, Angola, Congo, Libya, Egypt, Israel and Mozambique, Premier Mario Draghi said recently.
    Eni recently joined the world's largest Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project in Qatar. (ANSA).