Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

ITALIAN ELECTIONS

Russian embassy highlights Italian political ties ahead of vote

A sign of diplomatic ties or brazen trolling? Three days before Italy's elections, the Russian embassy tweeted photos of almost all the main party leaders with President Vladimir Putin.

Published: 22 September 2022 16:40 CEST
Russian embassy highlights Italian political ties ahead of vote
Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi pictured together in 2015. The Russian Embassy has published more photos of Putin with Italian political leaders ahead of the country’s election. Photo by ALEXEI DRUZHININ / RIA NOVOSTI / AFP

“From the recent history of relations between Russia and Italy. We have some memories,” the embassy wrote on Thursday, at the end of a campaign where the Ukraine war and Italy’s ties with Moscow have taken centre stage.

READ ALSO: Italy’s right confident of election victory at last rallies before vote

One photo showed Putin and former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi leaning towards each other, while another portrayed Putin shaking hands with a smiling Enrico Letta, leader of the centre-left Democratic Party.

Another showed Putin standing between anti-immigration League leader Matteo Salvini – a long-standing Putin admirer – former premier Giuseppe Conte, now head of the populist Five Star Movement, and ex-Five Star leader Luigi Di Maio, Italy’s current foreign minister.

The last photo showed Putin smiling while shaking hands with former prime minister Matteo Renzi, now leading a centrist party – though Renzi looks a little uncomfortable.

The only major party leader not included in the photos was Giorgia Meloni, whose Fratelli d’Italia party is predicted to come out on top in general elections on Sunday. Her party was, until very recently, almost unknown and has never been in power.

Italy’s current government led by Prime Minister Mario Draghi has been strongly supportive of Western sanctions against Moscow over the war in Ukraine.

READ ALSO: Salvini vs Meloni: Can Italy’s far-right rivals put differences aside?

Meloni has backed the measures, and the sending of weapons to Kyiv, but is fighting the election as part of a right-wing alliance alongside Salvini and Berlusconi, both known for their friendly relationships with Moscow.

Salvini has been highly critical of the sanctions, saying they are harming Europe and Italy more than Moscow.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

POLITICS

Florence elects first woman mayor after runoff elections

The Italian city of Florence, a leftist bastion, on Monday elected its first woman mayor as Sara Funaro easily defeated the right-wing ex-director of the prestigious Uffizi Galleries.

Published: 25 June 2024 09:16 CEST
Florence elects first woman mayor after runoff elections

Funaro, a local councillor with the centre-left Democratic Party, won 60 percent of the vote in a second round run-off against German-born art historian Eike Schmidt, official results showed.

Schmidt, a political novice known for his successful revamp of the Uffizi Galleries during eight years as director, was backed by far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s coalition government.

If elected, he would have been the first right-wing politician to lead the historically liberal city. But it was not to be.

Funaro, 48, has been a city counsellor since 2014 in the administration of outgoing mayor Dario Nardella, charged with welfare, health care, immigration and teaching.

A psychologist by training, she dedicated her victory to her grandfather Piero Bargellini, a venerable figure in Florence known as the “Flood Mayor” for directing emergency and recovery efforts during the catastrophic 1966 flood.

SHOW COMMENTS