No retreat on differentiated autonomy, a firm blow against irregular immigration and head-high progress in the process with open arms. These are the central themes of the speech with which Matteo Salvini closed today – Sunday October 6 – the 36th edition of Pontida, the traditional gathering of the League in the Bergamo region. A demonstration in which several ministers, deputies, senators, European deputies (including former general Roberto Vannacci) and even allies of the Patriots for Europe, such as the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and the leader of the ultra -Dutch right Geert. Wilders. “Applaud our foreign guests so that it can be heard everywhere. They arrived here of their own free will,” Salvini thanked them, encouraging the Pontida crowd.
Islamic extremism, “cancer of the Earth”
In his speech on stage, Salvini spoke first of all about differentiated autonomy, one of the historic battles of the League. The reform was approved by the House last June, but the referendum calling for its abolition collected more than a million signatures. “Autonomy, after 30 years of fighting, is the reality and the law of the State. There is no going back,” Salvini said at the start of his speech. The League leader therefore rejected the accusations of extremism leveled against his party. “Reading some left-wing newspapers, in Pontida he there was a gathering of the bad guysextremists. We talked about projects and the future against the only extremism that remains: Islamic extremism, which is the cancer of the Earth,” thundered the Deputy Prime Minister.
Budget law and citizenship
Salvini returned to comment on the finance law and the hypothesis – later denied – of a tax on additional profits. “If anyone has to pay anything more, let it be the bankers who pay and not the workers,” the League secretary said. To then add: “The government is compact, it is a government of friends even before allies, obviously we discuss from time to time.” Speaking of internal disagreements within the majority, we discussed the action of some young activists of the Northern League who, yesterday, Saturday October 5, in Pontida, described Minister Antonio Tajani as a “smuggler” due to his proposal on Ius Italiae. Also yesterday Salvini called the banner “the work of four idiots” and today he returns to talk about the issue of citizenship. “The problem is not the color of your skin or where the good Lord caused you to be born. However, the recipe for the next few years is not to grant more citizenships or to abandon them as quickly as possible. The League's priority is to revoke the citizenship of those who commit crimes,” Salvini said, to the applause of Northern League activists.
The meeting of Patriots for Europe
The Pontida party was also the perfect opportunity to bring together on the same stage some of the leaders of the European ultra-right, brought together after the June elections within the new Patriots group. Starting with Viktor Orbán, Hungarian Prime Minister, greeted by songs and applause from League activists. “In Hungary, the number of migrants is zero, we are not putting our country in the hands of others. We do not let illegal immigrants enter, we defend the borders. We, from Budapest, will take the migrants to Brussels and place them in front of the offices in Brussels. If they want these migrants, let them keep them!” thundered Orbán. In Hungary, he added, “we celebrate Salvini as a hero because he closed the borders and defended the homes of Italians “. Also present was Geert Wilders, winner of the last political elections in the Netherlands. He too, from the Pontida stage, chose to talk about immigration: “Patriotism is a virtue and Salvini is a virtuous man”, who fought “against the tsunami of massive illegal immigration that makes us strangers at home,” the Dutchman said. Then, addressing the Northern League secretary directly, Wilders added: “Matteo, all those. who are here love you. When you are in court, you will be our hero. We are with you, we will never abandon you.
On the cover: Matteo Salvini during the final event of the Lega party in Pontida, October 6, 2024 (ANSA/Michele Maraviglia)
