Italian leading parties condemn expulsion of Russian diplomats, advocate better ties with Russia

Leading Italian political parties have each issued statements in condemnation of Italy’s present government in its decision to follow Britain in expelling Russian diplomats as a countermeasure over allegations of Russia’s use of banned chemical weapons in assassination attempt on ex double spy Sergey Skripal and his daughter.

Given that the accusations were made before an investigation had even been conducted, and which ongoing investigations have been recently turning up a lack of evidence tracing back to Russia, it’s needless to say that such accusations were premature and inappropriate, let alone the countermeasures taken by the British government and the massive amount of anti-Russian media coverage in recent weeks.

The Northern League, Forza Italia, and Brothers of Italy, none of which were able to secure enough of a majority in the March Italian primaries to secure the election, as they continue to battle the Democratic Party for control of the Italian government, have each issued declarations that the Democrats have made a “stupid decision” in choosing to cast out Russian diplomats and play along with sanctions against Russia as both a ridiculous political blunder and a damaging economic move, as the Italian economy suffers from their implementation. Sputnik reports:

The coalition of center-right and right-wing parties, who won the majority in the new Italian government, lambasted the decision of the outbound Cabinet to expel Russian diplomats amid political uncertainty

The anti-immigrant eurosceptic Lega Nord as well as the center-right Forza Italia and Brothers of Italy parties have condemned the decision of the outgoing government to follow the UK lead and get in a diplomatic row with Russia. According to them, the step can possibly entail grave consequences for the new ministers.

Headache For New Government

“The outgoing government should deal with the routine questions, while the expulsion of diplomats is a serious step. They act like they are a fully functioning government without any limits. But they are supported by the parties, which have only 20 percent representation in the newly elected Parliament, and they have no right to act like this,” an MP of Forza Italia, Lucio Malan, told Sputnik.

He was outraged that the government hadn’t consulted the parties, which gained the parliamentarian majority in the recent elections.

“They should have explained us that this is what the NATO demands. But they didn’t tell us about it, we learned it from the TV news. Nobody has consulted with us. This is unacceptable. Especially, when we speak about the strategy. They say that Russia is behind the assassination, which is alarming for us. But we need the information about the plausible facts . We should acquire the understanding of political consequences of this step,” he told Sputnik.

He also pointed out that Italy strives for good relations with Russia, saying that a sanction policy is fruitless, as it can harm the Italian economy without bringing the international community “not an inch closer” to resolving such problems as the Ukrainian conflict.

“When the EU discusses the sanctions against Moscow we should recognize their goal and the possible results,” Malan said.

“Stupid Decision!”

The Lega Nord representative in the regional parliament of Veneto, Stefano Valdegamberi, named the solidarity with London over the Skripal case “a stupid decision.”

“We need to release Russia from sanctions and look for new ways of cooperation. This was a stupid decision to express solidarity with London, which gave no solid evidence, just suspicions without fact base. Italy followed the UK without confirmation of the accusations. I hope this is the last mistake the government has made. I would like to see the next Cabinet to change the course, to build as good relations with Russia as they once used to be. This is what the people of Italy demanded in the elections,” Valdegamberi told Sputnik.

A former member of the European Parliament, Giulietto Chiesa, predicted that we wouldn’t find out the truth about the Salisbury’s incident for a long time. In his article for Sputnik he compared the events in March 2018 with a story from September 1957, when the US and the UK wanted to destabilize the situation in the Middle East, precisely in Syria, according to the recently de-classified documents. He reproached Italy for following the UK’s lead.

“The Parliament doesn’t function, the government doesn’t exist in fact, as they resign, but the foreign minister still endorses the expulsion of Russian diplomats,” pointed out Chiesa.

Italy’s March parliamentary election resulted in the anti-establishment M5S securing more than 32 percent of the vote. The center-right coalition, consisting of the anti-immigrant eurosceptic Lega Nord of Matteo Salvini, center-right Forza Italia, run by former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, and Brothers of Italy, got 37 percent of the vote. The ruling Democratic Party won slightly over 20 percent of the vote.

With no party getting an absolute majority, concerns have been raised that Italian President Sergio Mattarella will struggle with appointing a new prime minister and forming a new cabinet.

Expulsions over Skripal case

Italy expelled two Russian diplomats following the UK call. More than 25 countries, including most EU member states, as well as the US, Canada and Australia, followed suit.

Russia has responded with symmetric measures, expelling the diplomats of the involved states.

On March 4, Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found unconscious on a bench at a shopping center in Salisbury, UK and are currently being treated for exposure to what the British government believes to be the A-234 nerve agent. The UK has claimed that the substance was developed in the Soviet Union and has accused Russia of orchestrating the attack. Russia has strongly rejected the accusations and offered assistance in the investigation. However, Moscow’s requests for samples of the chemical substance used to poison Skripal have been denied.

Later the chief of the Defense Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) at Porton Down, Gary Aitkenhead, told SkyNews that the lab had identified the nerve agent used against Skripal as Novichok, but could not prove it was made in Russia or determine its country of origin.

At least Italy can boast politicians who have the ability to think about the interests of Italy for once, instead of simply mindlessly following whatever trends appear to be popular in America. In this case, America has contracted a severe case of russophobia and then it spread to Europe, not entirely by imposition, but by Europe’s own desire to emulate the accolade of the West by taking up whatever America is doing. The UK is doing a fantastic job of this so far, although it appears that the chickens are coming home to roost for their present attempt, the Skripal poisoning case.

Italy can at least say that they aren’t trying to pin a particular set of crimes on the Russians in order to justify taking up its hostile attitude, as it appears to be the mentality of the current ruling party, which might not have that much longer to enact its fantasies. Italy can boast a brighter outlook in some measure with the knowledge that it can establish stronger international relations and thereby benefit its own people and economy, rather than taking up silly accusations and using them as a pretext to copy its neighbors in order to fit in and look cool with everyone else who is doing it, to their own detriment. It’s not often that something occurs in the west to help restore my faith in humanity, but today, something has.