ROME — After the collapse of Mario Draghi’s coalition government, plunging Italy into fresh turmoil, a troubling question hangs in the air: Was the Kremlin involved?
Two incidents involving contact between right-wing party leaders and Russian diplomats have sparked a round of finger-pointing in Rome as the election campaign gets under way.
The dispute threatens to damage the position of Giorgia Meloni, leader of the popular far-right Brothers of Italy party, who is set to become prime minister at the head of a new right-wing coalition after the Sept. 25 election.
More broadly at stake is Italy’s international reputation and the question of whether Rome will remain a stable and reliable part of the Western alliance against Vladimir Putin’s aggression in Ukraine.
In the first incident, in May, a Russian embassy official asked a foreign affairs adviser to Matteo Salvini — Meloni’s ally in the far-right League party — whether he intended to withdraw his ministers from Draghi’s coalition, La Stampa newspaper reported Thursday . which cited intelligence reports.
The second incident centers on Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s former prime minister and longtime Putin ally. Berlusconi, who leads the centre-right Forza Italia party, spoke to the Russian ambassador on the day he withdrew his support for Draghi’s government, according to reports in La Repubblica on Friday.
ITALY NATIONAL PARLIAMENT ELECTION POLL OF PURPOSES
For more poll data from across Europe, visit the POLITICO Poll of Polls. Salvini dismissed the report and Berlusconi has yet to comment. But opponents on the right are making a fuss. Enrico Letta, leader of the center-left Democratic Party, and former prime minister Matteo Renzi called for an investigation by the parliamentary intelligence committee. “The election campaign is starting in the worst possible way,” Leta said. “We want to know if it was Putin who brought down the Draghi government. If that happened, it would be extremely serious.” Lia Quartapelle, the Democrats’ foreign affairs spokeswoman, told POLITICO that the reports were “scandalous” and would not help Meloni’s chances of becoming prime minister. “The Allies will be watching with great concern I imagine. If any government were to talk like that even to the American embassy in that way, it would be a problem, and we’re talking about the Russian embassy.” Cuartapel said the reports on Salvini or Berlusconi would not improve Meloni’s chance of becoming prime minister, but were damaging to the entire right. The newspaper reports reinforce the impression that Italy’s right-wingers are very close to Putin. Both Salvini and Berlusconi have well-established ties to the Russians. Over the years Salvini has often expressed his admiration for Putin, saying he could become prime minister of Italy and wearing a T-shirt with Putin’s face in the European Parliament. Salvini has also spoken out against sending more weapons to Ukraine. Salvini was forced to cancel a “peace mission” to Russia in May after it emerged that his side diplomatic effort did not have government permission and the Russian embassy had paid for his flight to Moscow. As for Berlusconi, he was reportedly critical of Draghi’s position on Ukraine after the phone call with the Russian ambassador, who argued that the invasion was necessary because of the risk of Ukraine attacking Russia. During his time as prime minister, Berlusconi forged a personal relationship as well as a political friendship with Putin based on shared economic interests. His criticism of Putin since the invasion has been muted, saying only that he was disappointed in the Russian leader. Their ambivalence about Ukraine may attract a significant chunk of voters who are against sending arms to Kyiv and who see Russia and Ukraine as equally to blame. Salvini’s political stronghold includes the Italian powerhouse in northern Italy, which has a lot of trade with Russia and is hit by sanctions. But the ambiguity is likely to damage the credibility of Salvini and Berlusconi’s ally on the right, Meloni, who leads the polls. It has taken a decidedly pro-NATO position that Russia is the aggressor from the start of the war as it tries to portray itself as a respectable and safe pair of hands. Over the years Matteo Salvini has often expressed his admiration for Vladimir Putin | Andreas Solaro/AFP via Getty Images “If a new Italian government is more sympathetic to Russia, it would worry Italy’s allies,” historian Margaret McMillan, a professor at Oxford University, told POLITICO, adding that Americans would likely be watching with concern. “Italy could be placed in the same pro-Russian camp as Hungary and Serbia and become a concern for Germany and France.” Salvini dismissed the reports and concerns as propaganda from the left. In a message he told MPs: “A desperate and divided left, with some stupid servant in some press room, are spending their time looking for fascists, Russians and racists who don’t exist. On September 25, we will finally have a change.” A League spokesman said the person who spoke to the Russian embassy official, Antonio Capuano, was never officially a member of the League, although he has advised them from time to time. A spokesman for Berlusconi did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
