But Salvini forgets all the "tram tacks" he got from Meloni

Tàcches to whom? The following article is written without any irony, even though the topic we're dealing with has some aspects that delicately oscillate between the comical, the grotesque, and the surreal. The protagonist of this article is Matteo Salvini, Minister of Infrastructure, Deputy Prime Minister, leader of the League, one of Italy's most important parties, and leader of the country's oldest party. The occasion for our reflection, which is not at all ironic, is the very high-profile, very deep, very intense controversy that has unfolded in recent days between the aforementioned minister and French President Emmanuel Macron. You know the subject of the controversy. Salvini delicately told the French president to go to hell, using a French expression, so to speak, and invited him to "Tàcches al tram" (Tàcches to the tram) regarding an idea floated by Macron: the possibility of sending European troops to Ukraine to defend Kyiv from potential Russian floods following the future peace agreement, if one ever comes between Ukraine and Russia. Tàcches al tram.

What Salvini fails to grasp is that the option of sending troops to Ukraine to defend Kyiv from possible future Russian floods is not a French theory but a piece of the puzzle proposed by the Italian government, of which Salvini is deputy prime minister. We do not know whether Salvini was informed that the Meloni government, in which the League leader is deputy prime minister, has proposed to Donald Trump and his European allies an agreement to achieve peace in Ukraine that includes extending Article 5 of NATO to Ukraine, without Ukraine joining NATO. We don't know whether Salvini was informed, but Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty (signed in Washington on April 4, 1949) states in summary this: "The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all, and consequently they agree that if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defense recognized in Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area." That's right: including the use of armed force. Salvini, therefore, as has often happened in the past two years, speaks to his daughter-in-law (Macron) so that his mother-in-law understands (Meloni), and there have been more than a few occasions in recent times where Salvini's stance has been greeted by the Meloni government as if it were an annoying background noise. If you think about it, the real novelty of the clash between Salvini and Macron, which prompted the French Foreign Ministry to call the Italian ambassador to Paris to order, is that there are still some important people in Europe who, when they listen to Salvini, take him seriously and hold him accountable: a rarity these days. In Italy, lately, those who have given little weight to the deputy prime minister's words are his own allies in the government, the same ones who are now advising France not to take Salvini seriously—he's a kid, you know how he is, he doesn't know what he's saying—and the same ones who, on many issues, treat the League leader like a friendly prankster, eager to find a way to gain attention. Politically, the Meloni-Tajani-Salvini government has dealt Salvini an unprecedented barrage of slaps across a monstrous multitude of issues. On immigration, the Meloni government has resoundingly shelved Salvini's anti-Semitic stance, transforming cooperation with Europe on this issue not into a taboo but into a virtue of the center-right majority, going so far as to support the pact on asylum and migrants, which the League in Europe chose to reject in Parliament. On the economy, the Meloni government has resoundingly shelved Salvini's anti-Semitic stance, going so far as to support the reform of the Stability Pact, which the League in Europe chose to reject. On energy, the Meloni government has chosen to support the end of the regulated market, going against Salvini's position. On the issue of positioning in Europe, Meloni has resoundingly shelved Salvini's stance, choosing to align her party, Brothers of Italy, and thus a large portion of the government, against Salvini's stance, supporting the presidency of Ursula von der Leyen, whom Salvini detests. On foreign policy, the government of which Salvini is deputy prime minister in Europe is aligned against Salvini's main allies, from Le Pen to Orbán, including Salvini's newfound love, the AfD. Even the Meloni government's strong commitment to defending Ukraine doesn't exactly reflect the League's stance, which, not coincidentally, unloads on Macron and von der Leyen the criticisms it would like to make of Meloni but, out of discipline, lacks the courage to voice publicly. On pensions, once again, the Meloni-Salvini-Giorgetti government has dealt a serious blow to Salvini's line, and the government of which Salvini is deputy prime minister will be remembered for having overturned Salvini's doctrine on pensions. Instead of incentivizing anyone to retire as early as possible, as was the case with the Quota 100 disaster, it has instead turned the dwindling number of Italians eager to retire early into a strength of the government's credibility. Thanks to the Giorgetti line, the government has even gone so far as to discourage early retirement. ("The data shows that where people over 60 are more active, youth employment grows," said the Minister of Economy two days ago, scrapping years of Salvini-style rhetoric about the need to send as many people into retirement as possible to "guarantee a future for young people"). And even on the issues of differentiated autonomy, the Meloni government has given Salvini's line plenty of reason to feel out of place. It's a fact that, while waiting to strengthen autonomy for the northern regions, the only autonomy strengthened so far by the Meloni-Salvini government is that of the much-hated, at least by the League, Rome Capital. Meloni occasionally offers Salvini a few rhetorical sops, such as on vaccines, or on extra profits for banks, a few power sops, such as on RAI, where the League dominates, a few evicted Leoncavallos, and little else. And besides, the one who has given little weight to Salvini's words in recent times has been Salvini himself, who, in his positive government actions—there have been some—has often contradicted Salvini's words in the past. Salvini's wonderful yes to the Strait of Messina Bridge, God help him, contradicts the many "no" votes to the Bridge that Salvini shouted years ago. Salvini's sensible "yes" to nuclear power contradicts the many "nos" he said years ago on the same issue. Minister Salvini's many "yeses" to the high-speed rail line contradict the many kisses he sent to the No TAV people in the past. The many votes in Parliament against Putin's Russia contradict the agreements signed until a few years ago between the League and Putin's party. And the League's support for its government's process of emancipation from its relationship with China also contradicts Italy's recent history, which bears witness to the League's presence just six years ago in the same government (in which Salvini was deputy prime minister) that signed (with much activism from a League cabinet member named Geraci) a structural agreement with China (the famous Silk Road), which was promptly shelved by the Meloni government (in which Salvini is deputy prime minister). Salvini's presence in government, infrastructure aside, for which the minister enjoys unspeakable cross-party approval, including from many Democratic Party mayors, doesn't always leave a lasting impression, so to speak. Therefore, the fact that there is a prominent politician in Europe who takes Salvini seriously when he speaks should be a source of pride for the League, in a political season during which the most resounding "Tàcches al tram" (Trot-up the tram) are not the explicit and periodic ones directed by Salvini at his enemy Macron, but the implicit and recurring ones directed at Salvini by his friend Meloni, who, when faced with Salvini's words, often behaves in the opposite way to Macron: she listens to him, doesn't take him seriously, and rather than hold him accountable for his statements, simply does the opposite. Without irony: tàcches to whom?

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