Patriots’ Support for Italy’s Salvini “Unshakable” as He Faces Prison for “Doing His Duty”
18th September 2024
Leaders of the Patriots for Europe (PfE) EU Parliamentary group convened for an ad hoc press conference on the sidelines of the Strasbourg plenary on Tuesday, September 17th, to address the recent developments in Matteo Salvini’s legal case in Italy after Sicilian prosecutors asked for a six-year prison term for the deputy prime minister for preventing an NGO ship from disembarking illegal migrants in 2019.
The group strongly and unilaterally condemned what they regarded as a politically motivated weaponization of the law and the persecution of a democratically elected official for fulfilling his duty toward his nation and all of Europe.
“The world has turned upside down. Those who defend the European borders are harassed and threatened,” MEP Kinga Gál, the First VP of the group said, drawing parallels with Hungary’s ongoing migration row after the country was slapped with an unprecedented fine just for requiring asylum seekers to register their claims before entering the country.