An Estranged ‘marriage of convenience’: Salvini, Putin, and the intricacies of Italian-Russian relations

ABSTRACT

This article seeks to tackle two interrelated issues. First, it explains the nature of the mutual affection of the right wing of Italian politics – exemplified by the Lega – and the Kremlin. Concomitantly, we explore the reasons behind the Lega’s predilection for Putin’s regime, seeing it as part of this party’s public strategy, and look at the factors behind Russia’s reciprocal – though limited and contextual – sympathies towards Salvini and his associates. Second, we explore the practical consequences of this structurally asymmetrical relationship between the Lega and the Kremlin. In particular, we find an explanation for a lack of palpable results of the mutual attraction – much stronger on the part of Rome than on the part of Moscow – when it comes to the core issue of practical relevance, namely, lifting the EU’s sanctions against Russia as a response to the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the ongoing war in the Donbas.

KEYWORDS:

• Russia
• Italy
• Salvini
• right wing populism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. HARDtalk. Matteo Salvini, Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister, Italy, BBC, 13 September 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI2V-OzsDX0&t=1131s.

2. ‘Italy: Salvini “envies Russia” for Putin leadership’, Ruptly, 21 June 2015, https://www .youtube.com/watch?v = Aa6rRI_F7HU&t = 23s.

3. ‘“Sanctions against Russia are madness”. Matteo Salvini expresses his grief for the attack in Kerch’, posted by Il Canale del Drago, 18 October 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxKGIChZvKw&t=57s.

4. Elizio Bertolazi, ‘Интервью с Маттео Сальвини и Джанлука Савоини из партии «Лега Норд» (Италия) по возвращении из Москвы’, Lombardia-Russia Cultural Association, 8 November 2014, available at http://ru.lombardiarussia.org/index.php/component/content/article/57-categoria-home-/255–l-r-.

5. Лидер Лиги Севера Маттео Сальвини поприветствовал участников ЯМЭФ-2017, The Yalta International Economic Forum, 21 April 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRpFDO-9R3w.

6. Lider Italyanskoi Ligi Severa prishil v EP v futbolke c Putinym, RIA Novosti, 9 June 2015, https://ria.ru/20150609/1069116964.html.

7. ‘“Sanctions against Russia are madness” … ’.

8. О врагах, ценностях и контроле на границах: Маттео Сальвини в интервью RT. RT на русском, 11 September 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YD7gk5suNa0.

9. http://forumverona.com.

10. ‘Italy: “I would choose Putin over Juncker” – Lega Nord’s Salvini’, Ruptly, 7 December 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZQrfo3ryHk.

11. ‘France: Lega Nord leader says Russia more democratic than EU’, Ruptly, 11 March 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2eRiXiqUdU.

12. HARDtalk … .

13. Matteo Salvini to Alexander Dugin on Italy, EU and Trump. Defend Democracy Press, the website of the Delphi Initiative, 2 December 2016, http://www.defenddemocracy.press/matteo-salvini-to-alexander-dugin-on-italy-eu-and-trump/.

14. ‘Сальвини: К счастью, Путин – сильный лидер. Без него ИГИЛ был бы уже на Пьяцца Дуомо’ Newsland, 30 March 2017, https://newsland.com/community/politic/content/salvini-k-schastiu-putin-silnyi-lider-bez-nego-igil-byl-by-uzhe-na-piatstsa-duomo/5755501.

15. ‘Le Pen and Salvini vow to storm Brussels “bunker” in EU elections’, France24, 8 October 2018, https://www.france24.com/en/20181008-le-pen-salvini-brussels-bunker-european-elections.

16. ‘Verbale relativo alla proclamazione dei risultati del “referendum” sulla forma istituzionale dello stato’, Gazzetta Ufficiale della Repubblica Italiana, 20 June 1946.

17. Equally important in this context is the fact that the Lega Lombarda led an insurrection against the German Holy Roman Empire, which could be constructed as a parallel to a Germany-driven EU.

18. ‘Новый министр внутренних дел Италии: Крым – «исторически российский регион,»’ RT, 22 July 2018, https://russian.rt.com/inotv/2018-07-22/Novij-ministr-vnutrennih-del-Italii.

19. ‘Matteo Salvini: “Cosa penso davvero di Vladimir Putin e della Russia”’, Libero Quotidiano, 4 August 2018, https://www.liberoquotidiano.it/news/politica/13366389/matteo-savini-cosa-penso-davvero-di-vladimir-putin-e-della-russia-chi-e-oggi-vero-nemico-italia.html.

20. Владимир Колокольцев и Маттео Сальвини обсудили актуальные направления взаимодействия. Russian Internal Ministry, 23 July 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhZr0CRyruM.

21. ‘Вице-премьер Италии: новый Европарламент может пересмотреть отношения с Россией’, Sputnik, 11 September 2018, https://ee.sputniknews.ru/world_news/20180911/12620865/Italy-Salvini-Europarlament-Russia-Vybory-sankcii.html.

22. ‘Сальвини: Италия не может снять санкции против России потому, что она одна’, REGNUM, 25 June 2018, https://regnum.ru/news/2437372.html.

23. Сальвини: Россия и Италия должны сотрудничать друг с другом Россия. Rossiya 24, 21 June 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqefIriy3No&t=98s .

24. https://cdn.echo.msk.ru/snd/2018-03-07-48minut-2205.mp3.

25. ‘Итальянцы хотят первыми снять санкции с России’, Daily Storm, 29 May 2018, https://dailystorm.ru/vlast/italyancy-hotyat-pervymi-snyat-sankcii-s-rossii.

26. ‘Is “European spring” coming? Salvini wants new alliance as EU ‘bureaucrats governed for too long’, RT, 9 April 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiR7NMPX2tE.

27. ‘Итальянского политика задержали на Красной площади’, Lenta, 20 November 2016, https://lenta.ru/news/2016/11/20/salvini/.

28. ‘Сегодня Путина попросят спасти Италию’, ProFinance, 24 October 2018, http://www.profinance.ru/news/2018/10/24/bpaq-segodnya-putina-poprosyat-spasti-italiyu.html.

29. ‘В партии “Лига Севера” хотят, чтобы встреча Путина и Трампа прошла в Италии’, RIA Novosti, 21 November 2016, https://ria.ru/20161121/1481807876.html.

30. ‘Владимир Путин выиграл выборы в Италии’, Zavtra, 6 March 2018, http://zavtra.ru/blogs/vladimir_putin_viigral_vibori_v_italii.

31. Сальвини вернул Италии папу и маму. Tsargrad TV, 18 April 2019, https://www .youtube.com/watch?v = 9_v013JZOEc.

32. Русский ответ: Сальвини о борьбе против Брюсселя, Tsargrad TV, 6 March 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdFMYIQs-04 .

33. Италия может избавиться от Ренци 4 декабря [Русский ответ]. Tsargrad TV, 1 December 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2uB5cipzkE.

34. Директива Дугина: Победа в Италии, поражение в Австрии. Tsargrad TV, 5 December 2016, available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erVFSODaGzc&t=315s .

35. Лидер итальянской ‘Лиги севера’ о пророссийской резолюции. Rossiya 24, 6 July 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoGYrecDXoQ.

36. Русский ответ: Сальвини о … .

37. ‘Matteo Salvini: Lega vystupaet ot imeni i vo imya naroda’, Geopolitica.ru, 4 March 2018, https://www.geopolitica.ru/article/matteo-salvini-liga-vystupaet-ot-imeni-i-vo-imya-naroda.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Institutional Research Funding (IUT20-39) of the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research.

Notes on contributors

Andrey Makarychev

Andrey Makarychev is Visiting Professor at the Johan Skytte Institute of Political Science, University of Tartu. He is also guest Professor at the Centre for Global Politics at the Free University in Berlin and Senior Associate with the CIDOB think tank in Barcelona. His previous institutional affiliations included George Mason University (US), the Centre for Security Studies and Conflict Research (ETH Zurich), and the Danish Institute of International Studies. Andrey Makarychev teaches courses on ‘Globalization’, ‘Regime Change in post-Soviet Eurasia’, ‘EU-Russia Relations’, ‘Regionalism and Integration in the post-Soviet Area’ and ‘Media in Russia’. In recent years he has co-authored two monographs - Celebrating Borderlands in a Wider Europe: Nations and Identities in Ukraine, Georgia and Estonia (Nomos, 2016), and Lotman’s Cultural Semiotics and the Political (Rowman and Littlefield, 2017). With Alexandra Yatsyk, he has co-edited a number of academic volumes: Mega Events in post-Soviet Eurasia: Shifting Borderlands of Inclusion and Exclusion (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016); Vocabularies of International Relations after the Crisis in Ukraine (Routledge, 2017); Borders in the Baltic Sea Region: Suturing the Ruptures (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017).

George Spencer Terry

George Spencer Terry is a research professional who lives in Tartu, Estonia. He will be pursuing a Doctoral degree in Political Science at the Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies at the University of Tartu where he now works as a Project Coordinator. Before this, he was awarded a Master’s degree in Political Science from the Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies at the University of Tartu and pursued a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs with a minor in Russian Language and Culture at the George Washington University in Washington, DC. Terry’s research interests include populism, far right studies, EU-Russia relations, and linguistics. In addition to his native English, he speaks Italian, French, and Russian.