Matteo Salvini lit a fuse. The leader of the far-right Italian party La Ligue created controversy on Sunday, September 4, by questioning the effectiveness of European sanctions taken against Russia to sanction the invasion of Ukraine. “Several months have passed and people are paying their bills twice or even four times more”he told RTL radio.
“After seven months, the war continues and the coffers of the Russian Federation are filling with money.”
Matteo Salvinion RTL radio
“We need a European shield” to protect businesses and families, as during the Covid pandemic, he demanded during a debate organized as part of The European House-Ambrosetti Economic Forum in Cernobbio, in northern Italy . “If we want to go ahead with the sanctions, let’s do it, we want to protect Ukraine, but I would not want that instead of harming the sanctioned, we harm ourselves”he nuanced.
“Are the sanctions working? No. To date, those who have been sanctioned are winners, while those who have implemented the sanctions are on their knees”, he tweeted the day before. “Obviously someone in Europe is miscalculating: it is essential to rethink the strategy to save jobs and businesses in Italy”he had launched.
The sanzioni stanno funzionando? No.
A oggi chi è stato sanzionato sta guadagnando, mentre chi ha messo le sanzioni è in ginocchio.
Evidentemente qualcuno in Europa sta sbagliando i conti: ripensare la strategia è fundamental per salvare posti di lavoro e imprese in Italy. pic.twitter.com/G2AgnTMrjB— Matteo Salvini (@matteosalvinimi) September 3, 2022
Enrico Letta, leader of the Democratic Party, one of his main opponents in the ongoing campaign for the September 25 legislative elections, immediately responded in a tweet: “I think Putin couldn’t have said it better.” These are statements “irresponsible” who “risk causing very serious damage to Italy, to our reliability and to our role in Europe”he told the press on the sidelines of the forum organized on the shores of Lake Como.