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.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
