Salvini vs Crosetto. New rift over ‘Safe Roads’. And now the League is threatening to boycott the plan to counter Russian interference as well

He is navigating sensitive foreign policy issues whilst simultaneously having to deal with complaints from the League. Yesterday, Defence Minister Guido Crosetto announced that, to ensure the passage of Italian ships through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, there would be no need to wait for the European Aspides mission. The Navy will handle it. The decision is almost a way of deflecting tensions with Salvini, who is irritated by the postponement of the vote to extend the ‘Safe Roads’ mission, which he had intended to announce in Pontida. Thus, amidst the ‘fruitful exchanges of ideas’ with the ‘northerners’ (yesterday), the Deputy Prime Minister is also considering blocking the ‘pact against Russian interference’ proposed by Crosetto.

The tensions between Crosetto and the Lega are certainly nothing new. And this time, the Defence Minister isn’t even particularly involved in the postponement of the vote on the resolution tabled by the Lega in the Chamber of Deputies’ Defence Committee to increase the number of troops deployed in the ‘Strade sicure’ operation. The postponement was agreed by the committee chair, Forza Italia MP (and former Lega member) Nino Minardo, who took into account the reservations expressed primarily by Fratelli d’Italia (but also by other sections of the majority). Salvini, however, said he was “disappointed that not everyone in the majority shares our sense of urgency”. Just a few days ago, the Defence Minister had spoken out to reiterate that he was a co-creator of the “Strade sicure” programme, when he was Under-Secretary during La Russa’s tenure as Minister. Yet at the same time, he specified that “if you want to deploy the military immediately, it must not be for purely ‘aesthetic’ reasons, just to show some camouflage uniforms on the streets. If, on the other hand, you want them to be operational and, as some are calling for, want special forces in high-risk areas of cities, alongside the police, all you need to do is make it legally possible.” It is precisely this passage that actually highlights all the differences between the parties. Because it was Crosetto himself who added: “Rather than a resolution, we should speed up the Defence reorganisation bill and include the provisions deemed necessary to combat an increasingly heinous form of crime”. The reference is to the draft bill presented by the FdI minister on 5 August in the Council of Ministers. This legislation provides for an increase in law enforcement personnel by up to 40,000 officers, and has since been approved by the State Audit Office. However, it has yet to be ‘tabled’ in the relevant committee at the Chamber of Deputies. Then there is the Russian issue, which represents a further cause for concern. For whilst Salvini continues to meet with the Russian ambassador to Italy, Paramonov, and Russian companies, Crosetto, writing in Il Messaggero, has called for a “pact against Russian interference” that echoes the warnings issued by von der Leyen at European level. This pact has not been received with much enthusiasm within the Lega’s parliamentary groups. After all, Salvini’s official line remains that “some European governments want to stoke Russophobia”. And this new initiative, according to the League, could be seen as a way of fuelling “anti-Russian” sentiments. On this matter, Meloni, whilst on a visit to Norway, said that “Putin is provoking us to divert attention from the real issues. We must not react”. She also reiterated the idea of a European envoy to Ukraine.

The fact is that whilst regret is growing over not having been able to call for a security-focused measure from the stage at Pontida, yesterday the Lega secretary at least sought to ensure that the rally went ahead without any major hiccups. So, following last week’s meeting at his home in Rome, he met with Attilio Fontana, Massimiliano Fedriga, Luca Zaia and Maurizio Fugatti in Milan. A “fruitful exchange of ideas” lasting an hour and a half “on the main current issues of interest to citizens: from the economic situation of households and businesses to the reduction in vehicle tax, from the commitment to autonomy and federalism to security issues”, according to a statement. According to the statement, “the shared aim is to strengthen and grow the League, further enhancing the role of local administrators and the regions”. In short: for the time being, nothing has changed. Even though the atmosphere, even among the northerners, is described as “very good”.