Italy’s Salvini on Bannon: stimulating, but not European

ROME – Italy’s right-wing interior minister says former Trump administration adviser Steve Bannon has interesting ideas but that he doesn’t understand Europe’s complexities.

Matteo Salvini met over the summer with Bannon, who is reported to be planning a political consulting strategy to advance far-right parties in Europe. The Guardian newspaper has reported that the effort could be illegal in many EU countries.

Salvini told reporters Monday that “the destiny of Europe is in the hands of Europeans, no one else.”

Salvini says he shares some positions with Bannon, but not all.

He said of the former Trump adviser: “He’s stimulating. But I believe Europe has so much diversity and originality that sometimes the other side of the Atlantic doesn’t get it.”