The close ties between the National Rally (RN) and Matteo Salvini are no surprise. In a video relayed on Twitter by Jordan Bardella, the Italian Minister of the Interior cemented their relationship by providing public support to the party of Marine Le Pen, in view of the European elections of May 26.
“After years of side-by-side battles in Brussels, finally, on May 26, we can write history together, bringing the common sense revolution to Europe too,” says Lega party leader in his preamble. For him, “the time of the good souls, the boats of the bankers and the bureaucrats is finished” and it is time to “start again to defend our people, fighting against the absurd rules imposed from above”.
Salvini stressed “the right to retirement and health, the defense of the environment, fisheries and agriculture,” but also and especially “the fight against illegal immigration and the defense of European borders”.
Matteo Salvini then took stock of his own mandate as an example: “In Italy, in less than a year of government, we have shown that it is possible. That we can change,” he noted before tackling Emmanuel Macron head on.
“With a vote for the National Rally of Marine Le Pen on May 26, it is a vote for hope, to restore pride and dignity to the French people, humiliated and deceived by Macron.” Salvini’s initiative was particularly pleasing to Marine Le Pen who thanked her ally on Twitter.
Merci Matteo pour ton message !
On t’embrasse tous ! 😘 MLP https://t.co/TeagIkrSEN— Marine Le Pen (@MLP_officiel) May 1, 2019
The president of the Union of Jewish Students of France (UEJF) has meanwhile announced that a complaint would be filed against the National Rally.
After the city of Metz hosted on Wednesday, May 1, a “patriotic banquet” organised by the National Rally, militants of the Union of Jewish Students of France (UEJF) were caught by the security service of the party chaired by Marine Le Pen, as they were distributing leaflets in the vicinity of the Parc des expositions of the Moselle commune, reported FranceInfo.
The scene was captured and shared on Twitter by the student association.
On the images, a young activist is snubbed by a security officer, wearing sunglasses, who asks him to leave. A few moments later, the situation degenerates and an activist ends up on the ground, and is carried away by one of the guards after he receives a dose of pepper spray.
The mistrust on the part of the National Rally service can be explained, particularly by the anti-RN positions posted by the UEJF, which had for example launched a poster campaign against the party in 2017.
The National Rally, for its part, in a statement asserted that the UEJF militants “have been violent, seriously injuring a member [of] the security service, who has been given 30 days of ITT”, stating that they had filed “complaint for voluntary blows”.
On Twitter, the president of the student association called on justice to “react firmly to these hateful individuals who want a reign of terror”.
Nathalie Loiseau, the close competitor of Jordan Bardella in the coming European elections, did not fail to spread the “bad” news, accusing “activists of the RN caught on the spot sowing hatred and brutality”.
And Loiseau could count on support from the usual suspects. “The National Rally may try to present a clean face, but the layers of paint will never be thick enough to hide its deep nature,” responded Dominique Sopo, president of SOS Racisme in a statement.
Finally, the LREM deputy of Paris Mounir Mahjoubi denounced the “violent aggression by the security services of the National Rally of Marine Le Pen”, decrying “her internal militia”.