Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, who has been criticized since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine for his ties to Vladimir Putin’s party, has called for order after controversial statements about the death of Oleksii Navalny, AFP and Agerpres inform.

A veteran of controversial statements, the leader of Italy’s sovereign and anti-immigration League party assessed on Tuesday on the radio that if it is legitimate to “shed light” on the death of a Russian dissident in prison in the Arctic region, then “it falls to Russian doctors and judges.”

After the death of Oleksiy Navalny, which was announced on February 16, his mother and lawyer are seeking access to his lifeless body. But, according to the opponent’s team, Russian investigators said that they would not hand over his body earlier than in 14 days, after the completion of the “expertise”.

Responding to questions on Tuesday in Brussels during a press conference about Salvini’s statements, the spokesman for the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, recalled that the EU member states adopted a joint statement in which they put responsibility for Navalny’s death “on President Putin and the Russian authorities.”

“This is a statement approved by Italy,” Peter Stano recalled, advising “members of governments to simply read what their governments approve and approve.”

“That’s who Salvini is”

In Italy, the reaction was also firm.

“The decisions of the judges of the dictatorship have no value,” the leader of the centrist Azione party, Carlo Calenda, told Platform X. “Enough is enough,” he added, announcing that he would ask his lawyers to look into “the links between the League and Russia.”

Also on X, Alessia Morani, deputy from the Democratic Party (DP, left), published an announcement by Matteo Salvini on March 6, 2017, in which he announced an “agreement” between his party and United Russia of Volodymyr. Putin is also demanding the lifting of sanctions imposed against Moscow after the annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014. “That’s who Salvini is,” she commented.

Other publications also reacted, showing Salvini in front of the Kremlin or the European Parliament wearing a T-shirt with the face of the Russian president.

The Deputy Prime Minister in the government of Georgia Meloni Matteo Salvini has always denied that he will receive money from “United Russia” or other sources, but without convincing his opponents.

If Salvini does not issue a document confirming the severance of relations with United Russia, Kalenda threatens to pass a vote of no confidence in him.

“The minister of the republic cannot be a political partner of a murderous and imperialist dictator,” he condemned.