Italian Finance Minister Calls Lega 'Enemy' Of Italy Over Eurozone Exit Claims

Italian Economic and Finance Minister Roberto Gualtieri has called the right-wing Lega Party, headed by Matteo Salvini, "enemies of Italy's interests" for wanting to take Italy out of the eurozone, a claim that the Lega leader has disputed, media reported on Thursday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th December, 2019) Italian Economic and Finance Minister Roberto Gualtieri has called the right-wing Lega Party, headed by Matteo Salvini, "enemies of Italy's interests" for wanting to take Italy out of the eurozone, a claim that the Lega leader has disputed, media reported on Thursday,

"It's well known that (House Budget Committee Chair Claudio) Borghi and the League [Lega] are for exiting the euro and therefore they confirm themselves as enemies of Italy's interests, and of safeguarding savings," Gualtieri stated after a meeting of the EU Economic and Financial Affairs Council in Brussels, as quoted by Italy's ANSA news agency.

Lega leader Salvini fired back at these claims, stating that his party does not wish to leave the eurozone, or the European Union as a whole.

"No exit from the euro or from Europe, the League only wants to stop a government that is putting at risk the democracy, the sovereignty and the savings of Italians," Salvini wrote on Twitter, as quoted by the agency.

Salvini's euroskeptic Lega Party forms part of a coalition of populist parties in the European Parliament called Identity and Democracy. The Lega leader has recently criticized planned reforms to the EU's bailout fund, called the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), for fears that it will expose Italian savers to risks in economic markets.

On Tuesday, media reported of a potential rift in Italy's current coalition government over the controversial ESM reform. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte supports the reform, but his coalition partner, Luigi Di Maio's 5-Star Movement Party, will only back reforms to the bailout fund if they are substantially revised.