Ahead of European elections next June—and as Italy struggles to cope with an unprecedented influx of illegal migrants from Africa—Matteo Salvini and Marine Le Pen, the leaders of the right-wing, anti-globalist parties Lega and Rassemblement National, respectively, appeared together in a show of unity at the annual Lega youth event in Pontida, near Bergam, Italy.
The event, held in the Lega’s Lombardy stronghold on Sunday, September 17th, took place as the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (EPP) met with Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (FdI) at a migrant reception center on the Italian island of Lampedusa following calls from the Italian leader for EU help amid the yet another migration crisis, the Milan-based daily Il Giornale reports.
Speaking to the crowd, Deputy Prime Minister and Transport and Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini, who during his tenure as Italy’s interior minister successfully stemmed migration flows into the country, said: “The defense of borders and security is a sacred duty, it is not a whim of the League.”
Salvini also pledged to do everything that was “democratically permitted” to stop what he referred to as an “invasion.”
“It is something we are working on in total agreement with the [whole] government,” Salvini continued, adding: “The fact that she [Meloni] will be in Lampedusa [with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen] tomorrow and I will welcome Marine Le Pen here to Pontida are both part of the same goal.”
The Lega chief gave high praise to Le Pen, saying that she, along with her Rassemblement National (RN) party, “represents the Europe that we want.”
Salvini’s laudatory sentiment toward Le Pen was certainly reciprocated.
We are obliged to defend “our peoples, as Matteo [Salvini] did so brilliantly with courage and pugnacity when he had the power to do so … by drastically reducing the number of immigrants,” Le Pen said, referring to Salvini’s time as interior minister.
Back then “the whole of Europe looked to Italy with admiration in the face of so much determination” displayed by Salvini and the Lega, Le Pen continued, saying that Salvini and other leaders and activists of Lega had “shown that political will can do anything” and that they “embody the political will that Europe needs”
“We are waiting for this moment to return for Italy, but also for France,” she added, tacitly highlighting Meloni’s government’s failure to stem the flow of illegal migration into Italy and Europe.
Therefore, Le Pen continued: “When in a country there is a party like Lega, when you have a leader like Salvini, you know that it is the right choice, indeed the only possible choice.”
According to the latest polling data, Le Pen’s Rassemblement National is the most popular party in France, registering 25% of the vote, two points ahead of Macron’s liberal-globalist Ensemble party.
At the same time, Salvini’s Lega party has been languishing at around 9% since last September’s snap election.
