Matteo Salvini was allegedly offered Russian money
July 15th, 2019Pro-government commentators attribute the accusations levelled against Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini as an attack on anti-immigration politics. A left-wing pundit believes Russia supports radical right-wing politicians to achieve geopolitical objectives.
Magyar Hírlap’s Mariann Őry interprets the accusations levelled against Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini as another chapter in what she describes as a liberal plot to discredit anti-immigration politicians. The pro-government commentator speculates that allegations that Salvini was offered ten billion rubles by entrepreneurs allied to the Russian government are intended to weaken Salvini in the midst of a dispute over whether boats with undocumented migrants on board should be allowed to enter Italian ports. Őry accuses ‘fundamentalist human rights’ NGOs of literally taking over illegal migrants from traffickers.
In Magyar Nemzet, József Horváth also attributes the accusations against Salvini to unnamed hidden pro-migration power centres in Europe. The pro-government pundit contends that these forces want to weaken national sovereignty and delegitimize democratically elected politicians who want to stop illegal immigration to Europe. Horváth suggests that if they succeed, another huge wave of migrants will move towards Europe.
Népszava’s Gábor Horváth believes that the Russian government wants to achieve its geopolitical goals through financing far-right parties. The left-wing columnist, however, doubts that extending help to those he calls Putin’s European allies – including Le Pen, Salvini, the German AfD and Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán – will actually serve Russia’s long-term interests.