The most pacifist of all. Ready to do “anything for peace”, Matteo Salvini swears in front of the audience, which welcomes him standing up under the glass dome of the Lantern of Fuksas, overlooking the rooftops of central Rome. About 200 people present, more than the location did not allow (and perhaps it was also chosen for this), for the first stage of the tour “It is Italy we want”: the slogan recalls that of Romano Prodi’s first olive tree, but none seems to notice. Other appointments are planned in all regions, next in Genoa on May 23: a listening path, to build the future government program and, in theory, bring the League closer to the territories and its lost electorate. Salvini, in fact, listen, he remains seated for almost 9 hours following debates and interventions on work, justice, taxation or energy, “in any case less than yesterday in the bunker of the court of Palermo”, jokes the former Minister of the Interior. When he gets on the podium, first of all he takes it out on those who allegedly misinterpreted his words about joining the NATO of Sweden and Finland, who “pushes away peace and must be put on the waiting list”. From the Democratic Party they accused him of “giving Putin an assist” and, then, here is the clarification: “I think only in terms of peace, they are two sovereign countries and they will decide what to do – he explains – but right now we must do what bring the parties together “. In short, if it were up to him, he would postpone membership. He goes from a quote from Pope John XXIII, “we seek what unites, not what divides”, to a direct attack on US President Joe Biden: “If Donald Trump were still in the White House, would we be in this same situation? », Asks with rhetorical emphasis, clearly embarrassing the Minister of Forces Mariastella Gelmini, sitting in the front row, the only non-League political exponent of the event.
He, however, evidently thinks like the former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who spoke on videoconference, to argue that “if anyone, in the past, had carried out Biden’s foreign policy, he would have been burned at the stake”. Who knows if Salvini will take up this concept in the next conversation with Mario Draghi, which could take place as early as tomorrow, after the League leader’s request for a discussion on Italian strategy with respect to the war in Ukraine. The Northern League group leaders, Molinari and Romeo, in a break on the terrace, assure that there is “no intention” to follow Conte and the 5 stars who are still pressing to get a vote in Parliament on sending weapons to Kiev: “Before let’s listen to the premier and then we will make the political assessments ”, is the answer. Moreover, for Salvini “the League is an element of stability” for the government in the face of the Ukrainian crisis. And he sends a precise message to the premier: “I expect courage, we need a massive and generalized fiscal peace immediately, which is a must”, he says, imagining a scrapping of the tax bills, with which “the State recovers a part that has not collected for 20 years and 15 million Italians return to breathe ». Because in autumn and winter, “difficult months await us, even if the war ends tomorrow” and the priority must be “work, not the ius scholae or the Zan bill, as Letta says”.
To his allies, after the misunderstandings and quarrels of recent times, he sends another message: “The center-right must return to a community, which aims to govern for the good of the country, because only united can win”. Then what everyone seems to be a dig at Giorgia Meloni: «I’m not satisfied with protecting my party at the cost of losing – he explains – For these administrative offices I asked some mayoral candidates to take a step back for the good of the coalition. I hope that the same spirit of unity will animate the entire center-right ».