With less than a month to go until Italians head to the polls to elect new leaders, former interior minister Matteo Salvini, who is poised to assume the role once more, has lauded the Hungarian government’s family policy and voiced his intention to relocate Italy’s embassy in Israel.
In his statements, which came days ago in two separate interviews—one with the Italian radio station Radio 24 and the other with the newspaper Israel Hayom—Salvini pointed to the family policies of the Hungarian government as a model for Italy to follow and pledged to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
“The most advanced law for the family is Hungary’s: there is a lot of support there, parental leave extended to grandparents as well, among the most advanced in Europe,” Salvini said. “I’m not saying this because Orbán is there. If it were [happening] in France, I would say France.”
In Hungary there is “a lot of help, real economic incentives: after the third child, the woman is a greatly reduced taxpayer, from the fourth child she is no longer so, in short, the flat tax applied to families,” the Lega leader added.
In another interview with Israel Hayom, published on August 30th, when asked whether he would “honor his promise to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move Italy’s embassy to Jerusalem,” Salvini replied in the affirmative, saying: Absolutely yes, even if I reinstate that the coalition is center-Right. I gave my word, I am fully committed with the people of Israel and I intend to keep my word.”
Per the latest opinion survey, carried out by the polling and market research firm Techne UK, Italy’s center-Right coalition is set to win over 48.4% of voters, with Giorgia Meloni’s Fratelli d’Italia leading at 24.6%, Salvini’s Lega in second with 12.9%, and Forza Italia at 10.9%.
If the polling data is accurate, Giorgia Meloni is set to become Italy’s first female prime minister. Weeks ago, Meloni called for a naval blockade off the North African coast to halt to seemingly never-ending torrent of illegal migration flowing into Italy, as The European Conservative previously reported.
