European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen has warned Italy of the consequences if it strays from democratic principles, issuing a thinly veiled threat ahead of Sunday’s election, which is likely to be won by Georgia Maloney’s right-wing bloc, Reuters reports.

These statements by the head of the European Commission underscore the concern of some European capitals about the upcoming elections on the peninsula and suggest that relations between Brussels and Rome could become turbulent if Maloney and his partners win.

“My approach is that any democratic government is ready to work with us, we work together,” von der Leyen said at Princeton University in the United States on Thursday when asked about concerns about the upcoming Italian election.

“If things go in a difficult direction, we discussed Hungary and Poland, we have the tools,” she added.

Matteo Salvini, head of the League and a member of Maloney’s conservative alliance, criticized the claims, saying they were “shameful arrogance”.

“What is this, a threat? Respect the free, democratic and sovereign voice of the Italian people!” he wrote on Twitter.

Von der Leyen was apparently referring to the European Commission’s recommendation last Sunday to freeze some 7.5 billion euros in funding to Hungary over corruption, the first such case in the EU under new measures to protect the good rule of law.

The EU imposed financial sanctions two years ago in response to what it sees as an undermining of democracy in Poland and Hungary.

Eric Mamer, a spokesman for the European Commission, told reporters in Brussels that von der Leyen did not seek to interfere in Italian politics: “She stressed the Commission’s role as guardian of the (European) treaties in terms of the rule of law. “