Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has announced his intention to form a grand alliance of populists from across Europe ahead of next year’s European Union parliamentary elections.
The populist leader of the League (Lega), which formed an anti-establishment coalition earlier this year with the Five Star Movement (M5S), made his comments on Friday, saying that he wanted to unite the populist parties to challenge the establishment parliamentary groups, Kronen Zeitung reports.
“I want to unite the parties that will form the new majority in the European Parliament, the parties in Austria, the Netherlands, Sweden, France, and Germany,” Salvini said.
The announcement comes only weeks after Salvini said that he aimed to make the League not only an Italian movement but also a European one.
“I want to give voice to another kind of Europe, the Europe of the hope of work and certainty, and all the parties will have to choose which side to be on,” he said, adding that the goal of the movement would be to free Europe from the globalist push for mass migration and failed economic policies.
Salvini noted that next year’s EU parliamentary elections were “essential”, adding on to previous statements made last month in which he said: “Next year will see new European Parliament elections. Within one year, we will see if a united Europe still exists or if it doesn’t.”
Since making the move to block NGO migrant ferries from Italian ports in June, the popularity of both Salvini and the League has soared, with some polls showing the party to be even more popular than their Five Star Movement coalition partners, who became Italy’s largest single party after the last election.
The League also saw massive gains in local elections last month, with many historically left-wing towns supporting them. Following the result, Salvini commented: “The more the left insults us, the more the citizens reward us.”