87.8%. This is the percentage of votes with which Vladimir Putin would have been re-elected for a sixth term, according to Russian media. For all the Western chancelleries, it was the sign of a farcical election, given that there were only three “convenient” rivals on the ground and that all other political opponents were put out of action by the diet, or even physically eliminated as in the present case. (only the last) by Alexei Navalny. But for Italian Deputy Prime Minister and League leader Matteo Salvini, there is not a shadow of yesterday's election. “In Russia, they voted, we take note of it. When a people votes, they are always right, elections are always good both when you win them and when you lose them,” Salvini declared this morning, on the sidelines of a conference in Milan. As if the one celebrated yesterday in the country that invaded Ukraine for more than two years was an election like any other, just like the vote for the regional elections in Sardinia or Basilicata. “When I lose them, I try to understand where I “I was wrong and how to do better next time. There were elections, we take note of the vote of Russian citizens, hoping that 2024 will be the year of peace,” said the Deputy Prime Minister.
The “year of peace” according to the League
So not a word about Navalny or the attacked Ukraine. Furthermore, the leader of the Northern League group in the Senate, Massimiliano Romeo, also reiterated this line in the same hours: “Sending NATO troops to Ukraine would mean losing our heads and crossing this red line that would lead us straight towards world and atomic war. , he said, Romeo announces Italian affairs regarding recent statements by French President Emmanuel Macron. What do you need instead? “We need an intelligence of peace, as the Pontiff said. Let the G7 be an opportunity to formally open the diplomatic channel, because with the start of negotiations the weapons will also cease. As Matteo Salvini said, the League will do everything to ensure that 2024 is a year of peace, we no longer support wars. »
Response and clarifications from Tajani
However, the other deputy prime minister, Antonio Tajani, distanced himself from Salvini's comments in Brussels: “I am the foreign minister and I already expressed my position on the vote in Russia last night,” he said. the leader of Forza Italia told journalists. recalling that these elections “were characterized by strong, even violent pressure. Navalny was excluded by murder, we saw the images of the soldiers at the polls, it does not seem to me that this is an election that respects the criteria that we respect.” In the wake of the controversy, the League itself then decided to return to the declarations of its leader with the following clarification: “In Russia they voted, let's not give a positive or negative opinion on the result, we take note of it and work (I hope all together) for the end from war and the return to peace. With a war going on, there is nothing to celebrate.”
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