https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14817/italy-matteo-salvini
The new governing alliance, if realized, may be short lived. In an interview with the Italian daily La Stampa, former Interior Minister Roberto Maroni of the Lega Nord party said that the new government, if it comes to fruition, will be “intrinsically weak” because it would exist, “not for a shared political project but only to avoid elections.” He added that there was a possibility that the new government could last for the entire legislature “in order to avoid delivering the country to Salvini.”
“Do you think I am afraid of a few months in opposition?” Salvini asked in a Facebook video. “You have not got rid of me with your political games. You do not know me, I do not give in.” He has called for a protest against the new government in Rome on October 19. Polls show that 67% of Italians are in favor of early elections.
“We Hungarians will never forget that you [Salvini] were the first Western European leader to make an effort to prevent illegal migrants from flooding Europe via the Mediterranean Sea. Irrespective of future political developments in Italy and of the fact that we belong to different European party groups, we consider you as a brother in arms in the fight to preserve Europe’s Christian heritage and stop migration.” — Hungarian President Viktor Orbán.
Matteo Salvini, Italy’s deputy premier and interior minister since 2018, has been shut out of the Italian government after his gambit to force snap elections to become prime minister backfired.
As the de facto leader of Europe’s anti-mass-migration movement, Salvini’s departure from government may set back efforts to slow illegal immigration to the continent. Many analysts, however, believe that Salvini, who continues to lead his rivals in opinion polls, will be back in government soon and in an even stronger position than before.