Speaking to Sky Italia, the Italian Deputy Prime Minister claimed he hopes to speak to Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage and add his party to the list of allies he has already made in the European Parliament, following the success of Eurosceptics across the Brussels bloc at the European elections. Mr Salvini claimed the newly-formed group of anti-EU forces in the European Parliament could be as big as the top two parliamentary groups with up to 150 MEPs.
He said: “Last time there were just five League MEPs in a group of 30.
“Now we have 29 League MEPs. In the group, we have the French, the Germans, the Austrians.
“We will have the Spanish, the Swedish, the Finnish, the Czechs, the Bulgarians, the Danish.
“It will be a group of at least 100 people.
“I hope to speak to Nigel Farage from the UK as there are a lot of them.
“And I hope to meet the Polish and the Hungarians as well.
“If all of those who have at their heart a different Europe founded on jobs and the control of the borders stick together – going beyond the jealousy and the aversions – we can be the determining group with 150 MEPs like the first and the second groups.”
The Brexit Party secured 29 MEPs after last week’s European elections, becoming the joint largest single party in Brussels.
But Mr Farage has reportedly walked out of talks to join the “Europe of Nations” gang, after insisting he should become leader, among several other demands.
Mr Farage told Mr Salvini and Ms Le Pen their Eurosceptic group would need his “star quality and recognisable face for the group to secure success”, according to The Sun.
But the Italian and French politicians were said to be put off by his demands which included transferring his staff on their current pay.
They are also said to be wary of appointing a leader who may have to leave the Parliament in just a few months time, if Britain leaves the bloc as planned on October 31.
On Monday a Brexit Party spokesman said it was too early to draw any conclusions about which parties it would join forces with.