Matteo Salvini publishes a photomontage of Emmanuel Macron in combat gear

The Italian Deputy Prime Minister accuses the French President of wanting to push Europe into a war with Russia.

Matteo Salvini, Italian Deputy Prime Minister, attacked Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday June 4, by broadcasting a photomontage of the French president in combat gear and armed with an assault rifle. He accuses him of wanting to push Europe into war with Russia, while the head of state has repeatedly raised the possibility of sending Western troops to help Ukraine.

“A military escalation and Italian soldiers on the front on the orders of the dangerous ‘bombers’? No thanks”, writes on his X account the far-right leader, whose party, the League, belongs to the government coalition led by Giorgia Meloni.

A portrait of Matteo Salvini at an electoral rally, his arm raised, a rosary in his hand, appears alongside a photo representing the French head of state as a helmeted fighter, in a uniform in the colors of the European Union under a tactical vest. “Yes to Italy’s commitment to peace, to the refusal of war provided for by the Constitution, inspired by the collective moral conscience and by our Christian tradition”, adds the Italian leader. Which, a few days before the European election, invites voters to choose the League for “more Italy and less Europe”.

Matteo Salvini is accustomed to attacks against Emmanuel Macron, whom he accuses of being a “go to war”. He called it “mad” Monday, and had advised him at the beginning of May to “get treatment”. Systematically going against the tide of the pro-kyiv policy of Giorgia Meloni, of Atlanticist culture, Matteo Salvini is a long-time admirer of Vladimir Putin, and his party signed an agreement in 2017 with United Russia, the Russian president’s party. Despite everything, he condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine.