Italy's far-right Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said on Wednesday he wants his country and Poland to join forces to reshape Europe in his quest for a eurosceptic alliance ahead of elections in May.
Speaking at a news conference with Polish Interior Minister Joachim Brudzinski, Salvini said he wanted Poland and Italy to be protagonists in a "new European spring".
While visiting the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in central Warsaw, Salvini was sworn at by a crowd of protesters accusing him of racism and sympathy with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
As the head of Italy's anti-immigrant League Party, Salvini has repeatedly criticized the EU and says the May elections are vital for creating a "reformist" bloc that can overhaul Brussels institutions from within.
Poland's government has also demanded the EU offer more sovereignty to member countries and meddle less in national affairs.
Eurosceptic alliance
Italy's far-right Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini was greeted in Warsaw on Wednesday by his Polish counterpart, Joachim Brudzinski.
The visit to the Polish capital, initiated by Brudzinski, comes amid broader efforts by eurosceptics across the continent to unite that could fundamentally shift the direction of the European Union after the elections in May.
Salvini, who heads Italy's anti-immigrant League Party, has repeatedly criticized the EU and says the May elections are vital for creating a "reformist" bloc that can overhaul the Brussels institutions from within.
Law and Justice's leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski says Poland, the biggest beneficiary of EU infrastructure funds, should remain a member of the bloc it joined in 2004 but wants reforms to bring more power back from Brussels to national capitals.
Salvini could try to unite the Europe of Nations and Freedom bloc, to which his League belongs, with the European Conservatives and Reformists group which includes Kaczynski's Law and Justice Party (PiS) to create a single, powerful eurosceptic force in the EU Parliament.
A tie-up with Salvini's grouping could ensure a powerful voice for PiS in the next European Parliament, especially as Britain's Conservatives will leave the European Conservatives and Reformists grouping after Brexit.
But PiS has also been trying to dilute its eurosceptic reputation ahead of Poland's own parliamentary election due in the autumn, recently agreeing to reverse a law criticized by the EU that had forced Supreme Court judges into early retirement.
Autor: gf / Źródło: TVN24 News in English, Reuters