A narrow European Parliament vote to uphold the immunity of Ilaria Salis, an Italian far-left MEP accused in Hungary of violent Antifa assaults, has triggered a fierce political storm in Rome. League leader Matteo Salvini accused members of Italy’s center-right of betrayal after Salis was spared prosecution by a single vote in Tuesday’s secret ballot in Strasbourg.
“She is accused of aggravated assault with potentially lethal force and other criminal conduct in collusion with others, within a criminal organization,” Salvini said on X. “But with the trick of a secret ballot, requested by left-wing groups, even someone who calls himself ‘center-right’ voted to save Ms. Salis from trial. Shame!”
Accusata di lesioni aggravate potenzialmente letali e altre condotte criminose in concorso con altri, all'interno di un'organizzazione criminale.
Ma col trucchetto del voto segreto, richiesto dai gruppi di sinistra, anche qualcuno che si dice di “centrodestra” ha votato per… pic.twitter.com/a0ZHu0c4CZ
— Matteo Salvini (@matteosalvinimi) October 7, 2025The League leader’s outburst was aimed at coalition partners Forza Italia, whose members sit with the European People’s Party (EPP), which had officially supported lifting Salis’s immunity. The measure failed by one vote — 306 to 305, with 17 abstentions — after several EPP lawmakers reportedly broke ranks.
Forza Italia’s leader, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, swiftly hit back. “Talk is meaningless; what counts are the facts, the results,” he said. “Forza Italia is the second-largest force in the center-right. We don’t accept slander or insults. When these little things are used to gain a few more votes, it means they’re lost.”
League MEP Silvia Sardone accused the EPP of “saving Ilaria Salis,” arguing that the missing votes could only have come from the party. “We know full well that the EPP and Forza Italia govern with the left here in Brussels,” she said.
Forza Italia deputy secretary Stefano Benigni called her remarks “nonsense,” pointing out that his party’s delegation voted unanimously. “First, she says the vote was secret, then she accuses Forza Italia and the EPP of betrayal as if she had a magic wand. Who are you, Maga Magò?” Benigni said, adding that 15 right-wing MEPs — including one from the League — were absent, which “proved decisive.”
The Hungarian government had asked the parliament to lift Salis’s immunity so she could stand trial for allegedly attacking people during a far-left “Hammer Gang” assault in Budapest in 2023. The victims, some wrongly identified as neo-Nazis, suffered serious and life-changing injuries.
Hungarian prosecutors accuse Salis of aggravated assault and participation in a criminal organization, charges that could carry an 11-year custodial sentence. She was under house arrest in Budapest before being elected as an MEP for the Green–Left Alliance (AVS) and receiving immunity from prosecution as an elected EU lawmaker.
The Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee recommended maintaining her immunity last month, citing evidence that the case was politically motivated. EPP rapporteur Adrián Vázquez Lázara opposed that conclusion, arguing that “immunity does not serve to protect politicians from justice.”
The final result was the tightest immunity vote in recent EU history. Parliamentary sources cited by Corriere della Sera said late lobbying by socialist and liberal MEPs convinced a handful of conservatives to switch sides.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán condemned the outcome, writing on X: “Brussels protects its own. Péter Magyar keeps his immunity, Ilaria Salis keeps hers. A politician facing criminal charges for insider trading and theft, along with a member of a terrorist group — both protected by Brussels.”
Magyar, the leader of Hungary’s opposition Tisza party, had been wanted by Hungarian authorities to face trial for allegedly making sexual advances toward minors and taking a mobile phone from a nightclub and throwing it into the Danube in one instance, while he also faces criminal and civil charges related to defamation for calling a former Fidesz politician a criminal.
Salis celebrated what she called “a great democratic victory” and “a victory for antifascism.” Posting a photo of herself in the Strasbourg chamber with her fist raised, she wrote: “We are all anti-fascists!”
Siamo tutti antifasciste! pic.twitter.com/t6baBOkJQH
— Ilaria Salis (@SalisIlaria) October 7, 2025For now, the outcome means Salis cannot be tried in Hungary unless Parliament reverses its decision.
