Italian Matteo Salvini will lead the rightist nationalist front in Europe, 20 part

Rome/Brussels: Indications are that Matteo Salvini, the aggressive and hardliner nationalist leader from Italy, will be leading the rightist nationalist front, in Europe. An independent conference had been organised At Milan, in Italy and 20 parties representing the rightist nationalist ideology are expected to participate. These include important political parties like Liga from Italy, Austrian Freedom Party, National Rally from France, Fidesz from Hungary and Law and Justice party from Poland. This becomes a significant development, given the upcoming European elections in May.

Since the last few months, Italian Deputy Prime Minister, Internal Security Minister and Chief of the Liga Party, Matteo Salvini had started meeting the right-wing leaders from Europe. The objective of this campaign was to unite these leaders. As per the media, conference organised in Milan is the next step in the campaign. The slogan of the new front will be ‘Towards a Europe of Reason’. Austrian Vice-Chancellor, Heinz-Christian Strache has confirmed all these developments.

Leaders of at least 20 political parties from various countries in Europe are expected to attend the conference. As per indications in the media, the announcement of the rightist nationalist front under the leadership of Matteo Salvini will be made during the conference. Currently, three groups are representing the rightist nationalist ideology in the European parliament. They are ‘Europe for Nations and Freedom’, ‘European Conservatives and Reformists’ and ‘Europe for Direct Democracy’ and all the three groups will be participating in the Milan conference.

Strache, the leader of the Austrian Freedom Party, said that there are major differences between these three groups, but the objective at the conference will be to bring them to a consensus on a minimum common program. Marine Le Pen, the leader of the National Rally from France, confirmed the reports regarding the Milan conference and the formations of the new front. On Friday, Italian leader Salvini met Le Pen, in Paris, to discussed various important issues regarding the new front.

In the 2018 Italian elections, Salvini’s Liga party emerged the third largest party in Italy and thereafter formed the government, forming an alliance with the Five Star Movement party. This alliance in Italy strengthened the rightist and nationalist groups in Europe. After assuming power Salvini, had taken an aggressive stance against the immigrant influx in Europe. At the same time, he also fired salvos of criticism at the European Union, controlling the affairs of the member countries.

In the surveys conducted in Europe, in the last month, Salvini’s popularity is seen to be increasing rapidly. The surveys conducted by the groups associated with the European Union have indicated a thumping victory, in the parliamentary elections, for the rightist and nationalist groups. At the same time, there is also a possibility of Salvini’s Liga party, emerging as the largest party in Italy.

Against this background, Salvini accepting to lead the rightist nationalist front becomes significant. As per the claims made by the analysts, under Salvini’s leadership, the front will enter the election fray more aggressively and earn a bigger success.