The anti-immigration interior minister of Italy issued a plea to Italian citizens ahead of the European elections, taking place in the Mediterranean country on May 26. Mr Salvini said it was particularly important to make his party, Lega, the strongest one within the European Parliament to make sure the country’s priorities will be heard in Brussels. During a rally, Mr Salvini said: “You must help us to get to Europe as the first European party, Lega must be the strongest European party, so we can get there and take back the keys of our own home.”
Mr Salvini has raised the stakes of the vote, shifting its focus from the European Parliament to a reaffirmation of his populist and anti-immigration views across the continent.
He continued: “On May 26 there aren’t going to take place the European elections but rather a matter of life and death referendum, a choice between past and future.
“If we don’t bring back from the brink this Europe right now, if we don’t vote on Sunday, we are going to leave to our children an Islamic state founded upon insecurity and fear.”
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Mr Salvini’s Lega is leading the race in all the opinion polls.
A voting analysis by Tecne on 1,000 voters carried out between May 8 and 9 sees Lega on 31 percent, leading on its Government ally, the Five Star Movement (M5S), by 8.5 points, as Luigi Di Maio’s M5S is on 22.5 percent.
Another poll, carried out on the same days on 800 people, sees Lega with a 7.7 point lead, ahead of M5S on 21.5 percent and centre-left and formerly ruling Democratic Party, on 21.9 percent.
Mr Salvini’s party is currently a member of the Movement for a Europe of Nations and Freedom, a European group gathering nationalists and eurosceptic movements across the EU28.
But the Italian interior minister is attempting to create a new force to be formed after the elections in a bid to unite the “patriotic right-wing”, which may be called the European Alliance of Peoples and Nations (EAPN).
This group would openly challenge Brussels and its power, with all parties involved favouring tighter immigration, border policies and greater national independence.
Among the parties interested in joining, there is Marine Le Pen’s National Rally, Spain’s VOX and all the members of the current EAPN.