In an economic forum held in Northern Italy on the 3rd of June, Matteo Salvini, head of the League – Italy’s far-right party which forms half of its present coalition government – angrily denied all suggestions of being manipulated or involved with the Kremlin from any angle. The question was proposed by George Soros, one of the largest international financiers, who was keen to know whether Russian President Vladimir Putin had financed this party or not.
Soros is a Hungarian-born philanthropist who had always been on the wrong side of the right-wing government of his own country. During this conference, Soros showed extreme concern towards the possibility of President Putin trying to dominate the West by trying to get on friendly terms with far-right parties in Europe. Matteo Salvini, the deputy Prime Minster of the country directly denied any such allegations regarding his party from the audience. Salvini was quoted as to saying that he had never received a lira, a euro, or a rouble from Russia for the benefit of the League or Italy itself. Nonetheless, Salvini reinstated his support towards the country by stating that President Putin was one of the best statesman he had ever seen, and the fact that a “speculator without scruples” like George Soros had been invited to speak in Italy against him was a shameful thing indeed.
Matteo Salvini has always been a great admirer of President Putin, and the League has repeatedly petitioned against the EU for a repeal of the sanctions against Russia. These sanctions which had been issued after Moscow annexed Crimea in 2014 have been argued to have damaged Italian exports of food, fashion and fast cars, which had once found a huge market in Russia. Nevertheless, the possibility of Italy’s new coalition leading Italy’s foreign relations away from the NATO and towards Moscow remains one of the biggest concerns within the eurozone.