Italy's Matteo Salvini Hopes To Lead Nationalist Wave In Upcoming European Elections
Salvini, Italy's deputy prime minister, leader of a far-right party and Europe's rising populist star, counts President Trump's former chief strategist Steve Bannon as one of his biggest fans.
Ahead of elections this week for a new European Parliament, 11 populist leaders rallied last Saturday in Milan's Piazza Duomo. They vowed to reassert their national sovereignty by wresting control from European Union bureaucrats headquartered in Brussels. Their host: Italy's Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, the leader of Italy's far-right League party and Europe's rising populist star.
As a recording played the late tenor Luciano Pavarotti singing with its refrain (I will win), Salvini took center-stage before a crowd of some 20,000 cheering fans.
