Republic Day

League attack on Mattarella, Meloni: good clarifications by Salvini

The day after the attack on the President of the Republic on European sovereignty, League secretary Matteo Salvini clarified: 'No controversy with President Mattarella, he has my and the League's respect'.

by Redaction Rome

2 June 2024

Lega, Salvini ringrazia Vannacci e parte 'Generale' di De Gregori

4' min read

Key points

Borghi (Lega): "I confirm what I said about Mattarella"
League senator's attack on Head of State
Salvini: Mattarella? Today is not a celebration of EU sovereignty
Conte: calling for Mattarella's resignation is serious and unworthy
Tajani: solidarity with Mattarella over attacks
Calenda: Salvini respects Mattarella and keeps quiet if he doesn't know what to say
Magi: Salvini and Lega subversive attack on Mattarella

4' min read

"It's quite normal" that all the newspapers have opened up on the request for Sergio Mattarella's resignation by the leghist senator Claudio Borghi and "clearly it becomes political controversy then we are in the election campaign. I was very happy that Salvini clarified because it was important to do so particularly on the day of 2 June, in my opinion a day when we must avoid controversy as much as possible'. So said Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, guest of Quarta Repubblica, broadcast this evening on Rete4.

The day after the attack on President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella on European sovereignty, League secretary Matteo Salvini clarified: 'No controversy with President Mattarella, the president has my and the League's respect'. The League secretary and deputy prime minister said these words on Monday, 3 June, during an intervention in Agorà on Rai Tre Rai. Salvini then said he had not received a phone call from Meloni after Borghi's tweet. 'There was no phone call,' he said.

Borghi (Lega): "I confirm what I said about Mattarella"

And if Salvini puts the brakes on, League senator Claudio Borghi confirms his attack on the Head of State. Regarding his call for the resignation of the President of the Republic on Sunday 2 June, Borghi, in an interview on Radio 24, said that 'like all things there was also an if in front'. "I said a platitude that I extra-confirm," he continued, but in reaction to the fact that "one on the day of Republic Day, the day of the consecration of Italian sovereignty" he said that "European sovereignty is consecrated". "One consecrates the piece of sovereignty that we have ceded and we have ceded badly, because obviously if one reads the Constitution," Borghi added, "tell me anyone if there is talk of ceding sovereignty there. Nowhere does it speak of cession, in Article 11 it speaks of limitations of sovereignty', which for the senator are a different thing.

Schlein, serious that Meloni is silent on attack on Colle

'We have never seen such a frontal attack on the President of the Republic on the day of 2 June,' PD secretary Elly Schlein told the Ansa forum. 'A very serious attack. It is serious that Salvini has not distanced himself, today he is trying to correct the shot by grasping at straws. It is serious that all these hours have passed without the President of the Council taking a position on this unprecedented attack'.

The League senator's attack on the Head of State

"It is 2 June, it is Italian Republic Day. Today the sovereignty of our nation is consecrated. If the president really thinks that sovereignty belongs to the European Union instead of Italy, for consistency's sake he should resign, because his function would no longer make sense,' he wrote on 2 June on X Borghi, posting a photo of an article on the statements by the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, to the diplomatic corps accredited in Italy and gathered in the Salone dei Corazzieri on the occasion of Republic Day. On that occasion, the Head of State said, among other things, that "the life of our collectivity is included today in the wider community of the European Union to which we have decided to give life with the other free peoples of the continent and whose sovereignty we will consecrate in a few days, with the election of the European Parliament".

Salvini: Mattarella? Today is not a celebration of EU sovereignty

Borghi's attack had been joined by Salvini's lunge, who at In mezz'ora on Rai Tre, commenting on the tweet by the Carroccio senator known for his Eurosceptic positions, had said: 'Today is the Italians' feast, of the Republic, not of European sovereignty. We have a President of the Republic because there is a Republic, I think of Europe as sovereign states coming together, but national sovereignty is fundamental. I will never surrender to a European super-state where those with money rule'. Although later in the evening he clarified: 'No controversy with the president of the Republic, we are not asking for anyone to resign. I think the head of state has been misrepresented by some newspapers because on 2 June he spoke of European sovereignty'.

Conte: calling for Mattarella's resignation is serious and unworthy

"It is an unworthy controversy, calling for the resignation of President Mattarella is something that cannot be commented on, so serious and so rambling," M5s President Giuseppe Conte said in Foggia. Conte added that 'an election campaign, however much one may raise the tone and even act instrumentally, does not justify such a request. President Mattarella said obvious things. We are in Europe and we simply have to go to Europe with our heads held high and not like this government that has accepted the Franco-German proposal that even involves cuts of 13 billion a year'.

Tajani: solidarity with Mattarella for attacks

If Fratelli d'Italia is silent, it is worth noting in the centre-right the distance taken from the League by Forza Italia leader Antonio Tajani. 'We are Italian and European, this is our identity. This is our civilisation. Every anti-European choice is detrimental to Italy. Mattarella is right to stress our European perspective. I express my solidarity with him for the attacks he has received'. This was written on X by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.

Calenda: Salvini respects Mattarella and keeps quiet if he doesn't know what to say

"Salvini lacks the dignity and honour to respect the President of the Republic. Perhaps he also lacks the knowledge that the founding treaties of the European Union are also transposed and considered under our constitution. I realise, however, that this is too complicated. What he should do is at least try to behave politely because when you don't know what to say you keep quiet,' was the comment of Carlo Calenda, leader of Azione.

Magi: from Salvini and Lega subversive attack on Mattarella

"Salvini's endorsement of Leghist Borghi's tweet calling for the resignation of Sergio Mattarella represents a subversive attack by the deputy prime minister of the Meloni government on the Head of State on the day on which Republic Day is celebrated, whose values are embodied precisely by the President of the Republic. It is precisely on this that the next European elections will be played out: between those who want +Europa, like us in the United States of Europe, and those who want less Europe, like Salvini, Vannacci and Meloni. For our part, maximum solidarity with President Mattarella, who represents a guide for all Italians,' says the secretary of +Europa, Riccardo Magi.