Italy must exclude Chinese companies from the nation’s 5G network, as recommended by the parliamentary intelligence committee (COPASIR) in 2019, as the state must intervene to safeguard strategic priorities. In an exclusive interview with Formiche.net Matteo Salvini, leader of the League as well as of the centre-right coalition, embraces this line while reinforcing his Atlanticist positioning.

Mr Salvini’s guiding light is “common sense”, a conceit he applies to the national strategy to counter the pandemic as well as foreign policy. “It’s about trying to keep good relations with all. Starting – obviously – with our allies, the United States,” he said.

The League’s support of Mario Draghi’s government is helping restore his credentials as an Atlanticist and clear some of his characteristic geopolitical ambiguities, legacies of his traditional stances. “When [Mr] Draghi talked to me about Atlanticism, I replied: ‘we’re in, one hundred percent,'” he said. “We believe in the Atlantic Alliance, the freedoms and rights achieved by the West. Without looking for a fight with anyone: Atlanticism doesn’t mean preparing wars.”

“We also entered this governing majority to avert pro-China, pro-Venezuela and pro-Iran drifts,” he continued, operating a distinction between economic ties – which a country can very well cultivate, in his opinion – and “putting China and the US on the same level.”

This caution on Beijing marks a decisive turn away from 2019, when Italy was the first (and only) G7 member to sign a memorandum of understanding with China to enter the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a massive geopolitical operation meant to project the Dragon’s infrastructures, investments and influence globally. That happened while Mr Salvini was deputy prime minister, despite his criticism, and while the League was the junior partner of a significantly less Atlanticist government.

Now, however, Mr Salvini – a self-professed liberal – is willing to extend the State’s intervention powers to make sure that Beijing doesn’t get its hands on any strategic Italian asset. Whether that be telecommunications – such as Chinese 5G and digital infrastructures – or mobility – he harshly criticised the possibility of FAW, a Chinese automotive giant, acquiring the Italian vehicle maker Iveco. “We must defend our strategic sectors, not just the military,” he told us.

Commenting on the spy story that recently occurred in Rome, which entailed two Russian diplomats being expelled after obtaining classified NATO documents, Mr Salvini said he was “against any kind of espionage that is detrimental to us […] we condemn and hope that other responsibilities emerge, because the spy wasn’t operating alone.”

The leader’s historically warm relations with Russia and its president Vladimir Putin have set Mr Salvini on a different path than the other two Italian centre-right parties, both of which reacted faster and more harshly in condemning Russian hostile acts. The League and United Russia – Mr Putin’s party – are close, having signed a memorandum of understanding in 2017.

However, his flamboyant brand of anti-establishment politics is increasingly imbued with more moderate, Atlanticist positions. As an aspiring PM and de facto leader of the Italian centre-right coalition, Mr Salvini is striving to establish itself as a more trustworthy partner in the eyes of the international Western community.