President Jair Bolsonaro (non-party) arranged a meeting during his visit to Italy with one of the country’s ultra-right leaders, former Interior Minister Matteo Salvini. The meeting was organized to take place on Tuesday (2), when Bolsonaro should participate in a ceremony in memory of Brazilian fighters killed in World War II, in the city of Pistoia.
The meeting with Salvini was tailored by the Brazilian delegation and the senator’s advisors. The Italian politician confirmed that he will be present at the tribute.
In a statement, the Italian said that the event with Bolsonaro will be an opportunity to reaffirm the “deep friendship that unites Italy and Brazil”. He also stated that he intends to thank Bolsonaro for his efforts that allowed the return to Italy of Cesare Battisti, sentenced to life in prison for four murders that took place between 1977 and 1979, during actions by a communist group.
Salvini is the leader of the xenophobic Northern League party and was once the most influential figure on the Italian political scene.
Currently a member of Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s governing coalition, he has lost support with the advance of the ultranationalist Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy) party, which has grown over the League’s electorate.
Like Bolsonaro, Salvini openly admires former US President Donald Trump. It also has a history of xenophobic and anti-immigration demonstrations. In 2018, when he took over the Interior Ministry of the Giuseppe Conte government, he said that one of the priorities would be to take a hard line against migration.
“Doors open to good people and a one-way ticket for those who come to Italy cause confusion and think we’ll take care of them. Sending them back will be one of our top priorities,” he said.
Currently, Salvini is responding to a court case in which he is accused of having prevented a ship with more than 140 migrants rescued from the Mediterranean by an NGO from disembarking in an Italian port.
The senator also has relations with deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro (PSL-SP), son of the Brazilian president. When Eduardo was nominated for the post of ambassador of Brazil to the United States —a post he was unable to assume—, the Italian politician congratulated him on social media.
“Glad that our friend Eduardo Bolsonaro has been nominated as Brazil’s next ambassador to the United States. Our embrace from Italy,” wrote Salvini, in July 2019.
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