Salvini urges halt to Italian aid to Ukraine as Tajani confirms new military package

Salvini's call at the Lega congress

Matteo Salvini was re-elected leader of the League (Lega) on 25 October, winning 465 delegate votes against 146 for Senator Massimo Garavaglia, his only challenger. His new term runs until 2030. A little under two weeks before the congress, Salvini had stepped down as party leader amid internal disputes over the party's direction and growing pressure from the far-right Futuro Nazionale launched by former general Roberto Vannacci. Speaking from the stage before the vote, Salvini asked delegates for an explicit mandate to take the party's position to the Council of Ministers and then called for a show of hands. The delegates applauded his announcement.

Matteo Salvini465

Massimo Garavaglia146

Matteo Salvini

465 votes

Massimo Garavaglia

146 votes

Data from the article text

“We cannot go on sending money and weapons to Ukraine.”

Salvini justified his proposal by pointing to Italy's record over the past four years. He said Italy had backed Kyiv for more than four years, approved sanction after sanction and sent 90 billion euros along with an uncounted number of arms packages. He added that he had lost count of the packages.

Tajani rejects a halt to aid

Deputy premier and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani answered questions about Salvini's position on the sidelines of a visit to the Montebello barracks in Milan. He said the government's line on Ukraine was unchanged and that the next military package was already prepared and would be sent to Kyiv as soon as possible. Tajani also expressed the hope for a meeting between Zelensky and Putin, possibly with American and European participation, aimed at reaching peace. He insisted that the peace had to be a just one, and that Ukraine's defeat could not be the outcome.

“My position is well known, we stand with Ukraine and will keep helping it for as long as necessary.”

Asked whether the Lega could overtake Forza Italia at the next general election, Tajani declined to debate it. He said the government was not there to trade polemics and that results counted, pointing to the outcome of the European elections as the reference.

Polls and the 2027 election

Rzeczpospolita reports that the Lega now polls at about 5%, compared with the 9% it won in the previous general election. Italy's next parliamentary election is due in 2027. According to the same report and N-tv, Vannacci's Futuro Nazionale is ahead of the Lega in the polls. The Lega is the minority partner in the governing coalition led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, whose government has been a reliable supporter of Ukraine within the EU and NATO. Salvini's stance therefore sits in clear opposition to Meloni's firmly pro-Ukrainian course.

Previous general election9%

Current polls (about 5%)5%

Previous general election

9 %

Current polls (about 5%)

5 %

Data from the article text

N-tv links Salvini's proposal to pressure from the far right, noting that he is trying to hold voters on the right and profile himself on the Ukraine aid question. Rzeczpospolita describes his position as more pro-Russian than the government's. The Lega's proposal will therefore have to be tested at the cabinet table, where Tajani's ministry has already prepared the next military package.