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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| 'Merde alors!': Salvini draws fury with reference to African 'slaves' | 'Merde alors!': Salvini draws fury with reference to African 'slaves' |
| (3 months later) | |
| Italy’s far-right interior minister, Matteo Salvini, has compared African immigrants to slaves, prompting Luxembourg’s foreign minister to retort angrily using the French curse “Merde alors!” | Italy’s far-right interior minister, Matteo Salvini, has compared African immigrants to slaves, prompting Luxembourg’s foreign minister to retort angrily using the French curse “Merde alors!” |
| The fiery exchange between Salvini – the leader of the League, which governs in coalition with the populist Five Star Movement – and Jean Asselborn occurred during a behind-closed-doors session at a European conference on security and immigration in Vienna. | The fiery exchange between Salvini – the leader of the League, which governs in coalition with the populist Five Star Movement – and Jean Asselborn occurred during a behind-closed-doors session at a European conference on security and immigration in Vienna. |
| Salvini, who immediately launched a crackdown on illegal immigration when his coalition government came to power, proudly published a video of the interaction on his Facebook page, alongside the post: “The Luxembourg [foreign] minister declared this morning that we need migrants because Europe is ageing. I told him I instead work towards young Italians (and Europeans) returning to bringing children into the world, because we don’t want new slaves.” | Salvini, who immediately launched a crackdown on illegal immigration when his coalition government came to power, proudly published a video of the interaction on his Facebook page, alongside the post: “The Luxembourg [foreign] minister declared this morning that we need migrants because Europe is ageing. I told him I instead work towards young Italians (and Europeans) returning to bringing children into the world, because we don’t want new slaves.” |
| In the video, Salvini speaks about “being paid by citizens to help our young people start having children again in the way they did a few years ago, and not uproot the best of the African youth to replace Europeans who aren’t having children any more. Maybe in Luxembourg there’s this need; in Italy there’s the need to help our kids have kids, not to have new slaves to replace the children we’re not having.” | In the video, Salvini speaks about “being paid by citizens to help our young people start having children again in the way they did a few years ago, and not uproot the best of the African youth to replace Europeans who aren’t having children any more. Maybe in Luxembourg there’s this need; in Italy there’s the need to help our kids have kids, not to have new slaves to replace the children we’re not having.” |
| 'Little Mussolinis': EU chief angers Italy with comment on rise of far right | |
| Asselborn, sitting two seats away from Salvini, gets increasingly agitated as the minister speaks, before interrupting in French with “allez, allez, allez”. | Asselborn, sitting two seats away from Salvini, gets increasingly agitated as the minister speaks, before interrupting in French with “allez, allez, allez”. |
| Salvini then says: “Your opinion is not mine. Maybe in Luxembourg there’s a need for new immigration but in Italy there’s a need to help people have children.” | Salvini then says: “Your opinion is not mine. Maybe in Luxembourg there’s a need for new immigration but in Italy there’s a need to help people have children.” |
| The final remark triggered an angry response from Asselborn, who reminded Salvini of the Italians living in Luxembourg. | The final remark triggered an angry response from Asselborn, who reminded Salvini of the Italians living in Luxembourg. |
| “They came as migrants and worked in Luxembourg so that you in Italy had money to pay for your children,” he said, before concluding: “Merde alors!” | “They came as migrants and worked in Luxembourg so that you in Italy had money to pay for your children,” he said, before concluding: “Merde alors!” |
| “Merde alors” literally means “shit then”, but is closer to the English phrase “fucking hell”. | “Merde alors” literally means “shit then”, but is closer to the English phrase “fucking hell”. |
| The exchange came as Filippo Grandi, the UN high commissioner for refugees, told reporters in Rome that he advised Salvini to tone down his aggressive language towards immigrants during a meeting earlier in week. | The exchange came as Filippo Grandi, the UN high commissioner for refugees, told reporters in Rome that he advised Salvini to tone down his aggressive language towards immigrants during a meeting earlier in week. |
| Matteo Salvini | Matteo Salvini |
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| The far right | The far right |
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