Italy PM takes aim at migrants, austerity in maiden speech
Rome, June 5: The leader of Italy’s new populist government vowed Tuesday to redistribute migrants in the EU and review EU sanctions against Russia, in his first policy speech to lawmakers since being sworn in.
Giuseppe Conte addressed the Senate ahead of two parliamentary confidence votes expected to confirm his new cabinet, formed from a coalition of far- right and eurosceptic parties.
His eurosceptic government was sworn in on Friday after almost three months of political turmoil that alarmed EU officials and spooked financial markets.
A lawyer with little political and no government experience, Conte was nominated by far- right League leader Matteo Salvini and the head of the anti- establishment Five Star movement Luigi di Maio — both of whom are now his deputy prime ministers.
Conte’s maiden policy speech reaffirmed several of the coalition's key manifesto themes, including a tough line on migrants, rejection of economic austerity and conciliatory gestures towards Moscow.
“We want to reduce our public debt, but we want to do so with growth and not with austerity measures,” he told senators.
“We will strongly call for the Dublin Regulation to be overhauled in order to obtain respect for a fair distribution of responsibilities and to achieve an automatic system of compulsory distribution of asylum seekers.”
Both former premier Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia party -- a campaign ally of the League -- and the outgoing centre- left Democratic Party have said they will not vote in favour of the new government.