"I think I still have a lot to give. I have the will, the ideas and the time for it." With a single sentence, Matteo Salvini said a great deal about his state of mind. On April 4, the leader of the League (far-right) party was the special guest on a program on the Rai 2 public television channel, reviewing his political career.
For over 40 minutes, the talk show took on the tone of a mea culpa for Salvini's gaffes and excesses, giving the impression of a man backed into a corner. This televised segment alone sums up the delicate situation facing the deputy prime minister, an ally of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who has been in the government since October 2022. Over the weeks, Salvini's fortunes have steadily waned, both on the national scene and within his own political party.
In the run-up to the June 6-9 European elections, the rift between the head of government and her right-hand man has become increasingly apparent. Since her accession to the prime minister's office, the leader of the post-fascist Fratelli d'Italia party has been building up her legitimacy at the European level. This has been demonstrated by her repeated trips alongside Ursula von der Leyen: From Lampedusa to Tunis, on the issue of the migration crisis; or even to the eastern Marche region, which was hit by severe flooding last year; Meloni has been careful to showcase her solid relationship with the European Commission president.
In contrast, Salvini has continued to attack the German EU leader. "The voters who choose Lega will never choose a second term with von der Leyen and the socialists," he said on March 23, at a Rome rally of Identity and Democracy, the European Parliament group of MEPs to which the League belongs.
International politics has exposed the tensions at the top levels of the Italian government. While Meloni has clearly reaffirmed her Atlanticist stance, unsparingly supporting Ukraine in the same vein as her predecessor, Mario Draghi; Salvini has been following the playbook of ambiguity and provocation. Shortly after the death of Alexei Navalny, on February 16, the League's leader called on "Russian doctors and judges" to clearly establish the cause of the Russian opposition leader's death, while the rest of the Italian political spectrum held the Kremlin responsible. "When a people expresses itself, it is always right," he hailed on the day after the re-election of Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 18. When US President Joe Biden warmly received Meloni at the White House on March 1, the League politician kept repeating his desire to see Donald Trump return to power.
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