Statements in February by President Macron suggesting that Western troops could be sent to Ukraine are
"extremely dangerous, excessive and unbalanced
," Matteo Salvini, Italy's deputy prime minister, told a meeting in Rome of nationalist European leaders hosted by the Identity and Democracy group of the European Parliament.
“I think that President Macron, with his remarks, represents a danger for our country and our continent
,” he said, whose far-right League party is part of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government coalition. .
“We do not want to leave our children with a continent ready to enter the Third World War
,” added Mattéo Salvini in an intervention which was particularly devoted to the family.
“The problem is not moms and dads, but warmongers like Macron who talk about war as if there were no problems now
,” he said.
The Portuguese Andre Ventura, leader of the anti-system populist Chega party which doubled its score in the general elections at the beginning of March, Harald Vilimsky of the Austrian Freedom Party and the former candidate in the Republican primary for the American presidential election Vivek Ramaswamy notably took speak during the meeting.
Marine Le Pen, leader of the French National Rally (RN), who did not attend the meeting, sent a video message.
In March, Mattéo Salvini, who has repeatedly expressed his admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin, declared regarding the presidential election in Russia:
“When a people votes, they are always right”
.
After the death in custody of Russian opponent Alexei Navalny in February, he declared that it was
“up to Russian doctors and judges”
to determine the cause.
The words of Emmanuel Macron, who affirmed on February 26 that a future sending of Western soldiers to Ukraine should not be ruled out, particularly offended Germany and unsettled other European allies.