Matteo Salvini has secured another four-year term as the leader of Italy’s League party after winning the leadership election at an extraordinary party congress in Milan. Salvini defeated his challenger, Massimo Garavaglia, by a decisive 465 votes to 146.
During the congress, Salvini sharply criticized internal party dissent, targeting unnamed critics who had pressured local officials to boycott major party rallies, labeling their actions a “betrayal” of the League’s values, writes Il Giornale.
Last week, in the wake of the violent riots in Milan, Salvini had posted on X after an approved security decree: “More troops for Safe Streets, including 500 already in Milan, delayed arrests thanks to cameras, and greater powers for the Armed Forces and Law Enforcement,” he wrote, adding that the government will also seek to enact legislation for “the revocation of citizenship and residence permits for adults who commit crimes, and the impossibility of obtaining citizenship for minors who deal drugs, loot, or vandalize.”
DA STASERA È LEGGE!
Più militari per Strade Sicure, di cui 500 già a Milano, arresto in differita grazie alle telecamere e più poteri alle Forze Armate e alle Forze dell’Ordine.
E poi avanti, in prospettiva, con la revoca della cittadinanza e del permesso di soggiorno ai maggiorenni che commettono reati e con l’impossibilità di ottenere la cittadinanza per i minorenni che spacciano, saccheggiano o devastano.
Chi sbaglia paga.
Perché chi devasta una vetrina o aggredisce una commessa non è un rivoluzionario: È UN COGLIONE.
— Matteo Salvini (@matteosalvinimi) October 20, 2026Looking ahead to upcoming elections, he declared that the party’s focus must remain firmly on “identity, autonomy, and federalism,” asserting that the League would not settle for simply being a minor partner in a center-right coalition.
In his pre-election address, Salvini had also staked out a hardline foreign policy stance, demanding an immediate halt to Italian financial and military aid to Ukraine. He announced that his re-election gives him a direct mandate to challenge the current government coalition on this issue, going as far as to question whether funds sent to Kyiv were being misdirected by corrupt officials close to President Zelensky.
Declaring a firm “No” to a European army, Salvini told those gathered, “We will defend our borders ourselves.”
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni offered her congratulations to Salvini on his reelection. “Let us continue to work together, with responsibility and determination, in the interest of Italy,” she posted to X.
Congratulazioni a @matteosalvinimi per la riconferma alla guida della Lega. A lui e a tutta la comunità del partito i miei auguri di buon lavoro. Continuiamo a lavorare insieme, con responsabilità e determinazione, nell’interesse dell’Italia.
— Giorgia Meloni (@GiorgiaMeloni) October 25, 2026
