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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
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| Tony Blair has 'friendly, positive meeting' with Italy's Matteo Salvini | Tony Blair has 'friendly, positive meeting' with Italy's Matteo Salvini |
| (about 7 hours later) | |
| Tony Blair has held a meeting with the Italian far-right interior minister, Matteo Salvini, during which the pair are believed to have discussed controversial plans to extend a gas pipeline from Azerbaijan to southern Italy. | Tony Blair has held a meeting with the Italian far-right interior minister, Matteo Salvini, during which the pair are believed to have discussed controversial plans to extend a gas pipeline from Azerbaijan to southern Italy. |
| The Italian minister had previously said he was willing to hear the former British prime minister’s views on the Trans Adriatic Pipeline, an Azerbaijan-backed project on which Blair has worked as a consultant since 2014. | The Italian minister had previously said he was willing to hear the former British prime minister’s views on the Trans Adriatic Pipeline, an Azerbaijan-backed project on which Blair has worked as a consultant since 2014. |
| Ministers of the Five Star Movement, the other half of the coalition governing Italy with Salvini’s League party, have expressed strong opposition to the pipeline, mainly due to environmental concerns. | |
| Salvini posted a picture of himself with the former Labour leader on Twitter on Tuesday evening, adding: “It was a long and positive talk with former British prime minister Tony Blair. We talked about immigration, Brexit and energy policies. I’ve proposed him to organise a conference on development and investment in Africa. It was a friendly and positive meeting.’’ | Salvini posted a picture of himself with the former Labour leader on Twitter on Tuesday evening, adding: “It was a long and positive talk with former British prime minister Tony Blair. We talked about immigration, Brexit and energy policies. I’ve proposed him to organise a conference on development and investment in Africa. It was a friendly and positive meeting.’’ |
| Salvini is a controversial figure because of his far-right views. He has pledged to deport 500,000 “illegal immigrants” and one of his first moves as interior minister in June was to turn away a boat with more than 600 African refugees who had been rescued at sea while trying to reach Europe. | |
| By contrast, Blair recently set up the Institute for Social Change, a movement dedicated to combating populism and its causes. | |
| A spokeswoman for Blair said on Tuesday that he was giving geo-political advice through acting as chairman to an “advisory panel to the Southern Gas Corridor pipeline”. | A spokeswoman for Blair said on Tuesday that he was giving geo-political advice through acting as chairman to an “advisory panel to the Southern Gas Corridor pipeline”. |
| Tony Blair | Tony Blair |
| Matteo Salvini | Matteo Salvini |
| Italy | Italy |
| The far right | The far right |
| Europe | Europe |
| Azerbaijan | Azerbaijan |
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