Salvini: “New Europe is born” amid nationalist-populist surge in European elections

Noteworthy gains were made by Europe’s nationalist-populist, eurosceptic parties in this weekend’s European Parliament elections as support for centrist parties which had previously dominated the European Union for decades drastically fell.

The enormous success enjoyed by Italy’s League party, France’s National Rally, and the UK’s five-week-old Brexit party are glaring signs that Europe is indeed undergoing significant changes.

Signs like these mark the beginning of a “new European Renaissance,” declared Matteo Salvini, Italy’s populist Deputy Prime Minister, Interior Minister, and leader of the League at party headquarters in Milan.

“A new Europe is born. I am proud that the League is participating in this new European renaissance,” Salvini asserted.

Salvini continued, saying, “Significantly, as the ‘League’ became the dominant party in Italy, Marine Le Pen swept into a leading position in France, and Nigel Farage in the UK… This is a sign that Europe is changing, Europe is tired of being a slave to the elites, corporations and the powers-that-be.”

Surprisingly, the League’s left-wing populist coalition partner, the Five Star Movement (MS5), was outdone by the center-left Democratic Party (PD) which came in second.

The League, which campaigned on a platform that attacked the globalist, pro-mass migration policies of the European Union, made sweeping gains, outdoing it’s governing coalition partner and rival, the 5-Star Movement.

Salvini assured reporters in Milan that the European election results wouldn’t ignite any “settling of accounts” within Italy’s internal political landscape, adding that, “nothing changes at the national level.”

Salvini reiterated that globalist left-wing forces that have incompetently governed Italy and Europe for years now remain as his chief adversaries, while his populist allies in government were partners and friends with whom he would immediately resume cooperation and joint work.

Just five years ago, in Europe’s last parliamentary elections, the League barely managed to overcome the 6 percent barrier.

Since then eurosceptic, populist, and right-wing parties have made significant gains across Europe in the EU parliamentary elections, as the political center – which has dominated over the past 40 years – has been hollowed out substantially.