The Russia connectionCaught Red Handed: Russian Financing Scheme in Italy Highlights Europe’s Vulnerabilities
In February 2019, two Italian investigative journalists made an explosive revelation: Matteo Salvini, leader of the far-right party La Lega and Italian interior minister, had sought financing from the Kremlin to the tune of millions of euros. That claim has now been given a new lease on life by the release of the audio recording of a meeting in Moscow that corroborates the February story.
In February 2019, two Italian investigative journalists made an explosive revelation: Matteo Salvini, leader of the far-right party La Lega and Italian interior minister, had sought financing from the Kremlin to the tune of millions of euros. That claim has now been given a new lease on life by Buzzfeed’s release of the audio recording of a meeting in Moscow that corroborates the February story. In the recording, three Italian men, including Salvini’s close aide Gianluca Savoini, and three Russians can be heard arranging an oil deal that would generate millions of euros for La Lega. The transcript confirms that representatives of Russian interests sought to support La Lega ahead of European elections earlier this year.
Was It Legal?
This Moscow meeting occurred on 18 October 2018. At the time, the only limit on foreign funding in Italian elections was that all donations were capped at €100,000. However, La Lega’s coalition partner was pushing a new anti-corruption law that, among other things, completely forbade foreign funding of Italian parties and candidates. In the weeks following the Moscow meeting, nine Lega deputies proposed an amendment that would have removed the ban. The amendment was eventually withdrawn and the anti-corruption law containing the ban on foreign funding was passed in December 2018. But La Lega eventually managed to weaken the restrictions in April 2019. On that occasion, it added a provision in an unrelated economic bill that amended the law so as to exclude “foundations, association and committees” from its scope.
Of course, Salvini and his party have firmly denied any wrongdoing. In particular, La Lega has been keen to distance itself from Savoini, despite glaring evidence of their close proximity. For instance, Savoini’s foundation, the “Lombardy-Russia Cultural Association” is located in the same building as La Lega’s headquarters. And, while there is no conclusive evidence that the discussed oil deal actually went through, the prosecutor’s office in Milan has now opened an investigation into possible charges of “international corruption.”
