Salvini says to talk to Meloni abt possible move to interior

(ANSA) - ROME, DEC 28 - League leader and Deputy Premier Matteo Salvini said Saturday he would talk to Premier Giorgia Meloni about a possible move back from the transport to the interior ministry after his recent acquittal on charges of kidnapping migrants during his time as strongman anti-migrant interior minister in 2019.
    "We are all in the hands of the good Lord. I have been Interior Minister and I think a fairly good one. Now the acquittal takes away the excuses especially from the left that said 'no Salvini cannot deal with immigration, security, interior' because I was on trial. I have many things to do in the ministry where I am (transport, ed.) but certainly dealing with the security of Italians is something beautiful and important. (Interior Minister) Matteo Piantedosi has all my trust, then we will discuss it with both Giorgia and him".
    Salvini went on: "If someone becomes Interior Minister and deals with the security of Italians for once in their life, it stays with them for the rest of their lives".
    Asked if he had already spoken about the move with Meloni, Salvini said "If I had, I wouldn't tell you".
    Salvini recently said dealing with security as interior minister is "something beautiful" he can once again aspire to after being acquitted of abduction charges by a Palermo court for stopping migrants from landing on Lampedusa when he filled the position five years ago.
    However, the League leader said he was fine in his current post for the time being.
    "There is a friend, a person who has my friendship and my trust like Matteo Piantedosi at the interior ministry", said Salvini, replying to a reporter's question on whether he could potentially fill the position again after judges in Palermo on December 21 ruled there was no case to answer in the Open Arms trial and defending Italy's borders was not a crime. (ANSA).