Deputy Premier and Transport Minister
Matteo Salvini has said that the differences between the parties
of Premier Giorgia Meloni's ruling coalition at the EU level
will not cause the government to cave in before the end of the
parliamentary term.
Salvini's League has joined the new Patriots for Europe group in
the European Parliament founded by Hungarian Prime Minister
Viktor Orban.
The new group also includes Marine Le Pen's National Rally (RN)
and it has lured Spanish ultraconservative party Vox and
Austria's far-right Freedom Party (FPO) away from the European
Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) caucus that Meloni's Brothers
of Italy (FdI) party belongs to.
The other main party in the ruling alliance, Deputy Premier and
Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani's Forza Italia, is in European
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's centre-right
European People's Party (EPP).
"This is the government that the Italians chose and it will last
for all five years (of the parliamentary term)," Salvini told
'ItaliaReportUsa' when asked whether differences within the
coalition over Europe could have repercussions for the
government's stability.
"We already had different positions in Europe before and we
continue to have them now.
"There is a part of the government that supports von der Leyen's
encore (second term).
"But the damage the outgoing Commission did is serious and we
cannot support it.
"As far as the government is concerned, 'Hic manebimus optime'
(I am very happy here), and we will continue to govern for five
years."
Salvini also commented on Elon Musk's allegation that the
European Commission offered to make an "illegal secret deal"
with X over compliance with new EU misinformation rules.
Musk said the Commission had promised X would not be fined if it
"quietly censored speech without telling anyone".
He made the allegations after the Commission said X had breached
the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA).
"It would be very serious if the accusations made by Elon Musk
were true," Salvini said via X.
"Enough of the Europe of gags and censorship. Long live freedom
of expression, always".
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