"I can say, as far as the Italian secret services are aware, that there were no activities aimed at favoring the fall of the Draghi government by this dialogue".
Franco Gabrielli , Delegated Authority for the security of the Republic, in Vieste once again repeats what was already stated in an official note on the alleged contacts between Matteo Salvini's adviser, Antonio Capuano, and the official of the Russian embassy in Rome, Oleg Kostyukov . According to Gabrielli, news came "at a time when the country needs great serenity".
The reconstruction that started a new Russia-gate is by the Press: the diplomat would have asked Capuano "if the ministers of the League were willing to resign from the government". Only "fake news", the League "is with the West and with democracy", tried to close the Salvini quarrel even if the management of the newspaper confirmed the existence of "documents viewed" , an "informal summary of the work of intelligence on the matter, communicated to the competent institutional levels ".
Moscow also intervened yesterday on the new storm that hit the League. The spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Minister, Maria Zakharova , dismisses the case as "a fairy tale" and rejects any accusation of Moscow's interference on the fate of the Italian executive.
Zakharova accused the Italian political class and the media of forgetting "their own self-sufficiency and national pride" and of starting "to be piloted by external actors, vulgarly copying even the worst practices and models of the electoral campaign, trying to play the 'Russian card. ' and consciously spreading the myth of Moscow's interference in electoral processes ".
"If before - says the spokeswoman for Russian diplomacy - the ability to change governments in Rome was attributed to the Russian ambassador, now a first ordinary secretary can do so by addressing a question to an assistant of one of the Italian politicians. Apparently, in future, the political crises in Italy will derive from the simple appearance of a secretary with a Russian surname ".
"We perceive Italy - guarantees Zakharova - as a sovereign state that pursues an independent internal and foreign policy: we consider it a strong country that occupies a unique place in world history and has a positive impact on international life". This is why, he adds, "relations between Russia and Italy have always been characterized by pragmatism, understanding and mutual respect".
(Unioneonline / D)