Italy: a general suspended on the League list for the Europeans

Matteo Salvini, deputy prime minister in the coalition government of Giorgia Meloni, confirmed at the launch of his new book that Roberto Vannacci will appear on the party list for the vote, which will be held on June 8 and 9 in Italy.

“I am happy that a valuable man like General Vannacci has decided to continue his fights for freedom alongside the League in the European Parliament,” said Matteo Salvini, in a message on the social network

“Dictatorship of minorities”

The announcement comes after months of debate within the party over whether Roberto Vannacci would be a suitable candidate.

Roberto Vannacci was suspended by the Defense Ministry in February and had his pay reduced for violating the military’s neutrality in a book published last year. He denounced the “dictatorship of minorities” and wrote that homosexuals were not “normal”.

Roberto Vannacci also said of a famous black volleyball player, Paola Egonu, that although she has Italian nationality, “her features do not represent Italianness.”

Three investigations

His positions have attracted criticism from the left and the right, including from those around Giorgia Meloni, who heads the far-right Fratelli d’Italia party. Roberto Vannacci is the subject of three separate investigations, including one for defamation of Paola Egonu and another for incitement to racial hatred.

The third investigation is not related to his book, but concerns suspicions of financial irregularities while he was military attaché at the Italian embassy in Moscow in 2021-2022.

“I do not share all of Vannacci’s thoughts, but I firmly defend the right to express one’s ideas,” Matteo Salvini wrote in his book, excerpts of which were published by his team.

The League, allied at European level with the French National Rally and the German AfD, is credited with around 7% of voting intentions.

AFP/Muriel Naudin

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