TomandJerry
Well-known member
- Oct 1, 2013
- 12,323
Thousands of supporters of Italy's Northern League have poured into one of Rome's biggest squares for a rally against immigration, the EU and Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's government.
League leader Matteo Salvini accused Mr Renzi of substituting the country's interests to those of the EU.
He also criticised the government's record in dealing with Romanian truck drivers, tax, banks and big business.
A large counter-demonstration against Mr Salvini was also held in Rome.
Opinion polls suggest that Mr Salvini is rapidly gaining in popularity.
They show him as being second only to Mr Renzi, prompting some to dub him as "the other Matteo".
The Northern League was once a strong ally of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, but it has sought to find new allies as he struggles to shake off a tax fraud conviction that forced him out of parliament.
Mr Salvini's fiery rhetoric against the European Union, immigration and austerity politics had led to comparisons being drawn between him and French National Front leader Marine Le Pen.
The counter-demonstration staged by an alliance of leftist parties, anti-racism campaigners and gay rights groups was held only a few hundred metres from the Northern League rally.
Many protested under the banner "Never with Salvini".
'Foolish servant'
"The problem isn't Renzi, Renzi is a pawn, Renzi is a dumb slave, at the disposal of some nameless person who wants to control all our lives from Brussels," Mr Salvini told the rally at the Piazza del Popolo.
League leader Matteo Salvini accused Mr Renzi of substituting the country's interests to those of the EU.
He also criticised the government's record in dealing with Romanian truck drivers, tax, banks and big business.
A large counter-demonstration against Mr Salvini was also held in Rome.
Opinion polls suggest that Mr Salvini is rapidly gaining in popularity.
They show him as being second only to Mr Renzi, prompting some to dub him as "the other Matteo".
The Northern League was once a strong ally of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, but it has sought to find new allies as he struggles to shake off a tax fraud conviction that forced him out of parliament.
Mr Salvini's fiery rhetoric against the European Union, immigration and austerity politics had led to comparisons being drawn between him and French National Front leader Marine Le Pen.
The counter-demonstration staged by an alliance of leftist parties, anti-racism campaigners and gay rights groups was held only a few hundred metres from the Northern League rally.
Many protested under the banner "Never with Salvini".
'Foolish servant'
"The problem isn't Renzi, Renzi is a pawn, Renzi is a dumb slave, at the disposal of some nameless person who wants to control all our lives from Brussels," Mr Salvini told the rally at the Piazza del Popolo.