Matteo Salvini: “Only those who have permission to enter will come to Italy”

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has resigned. The government of Italy is in limbo. The populist 5-Star Movement (M5S) is negotiating with the leftist Partito Democratico (PD) about a possible new coalition. But Matteo Salvini is staying firmly on-message.

The following video is in Italian, but was translated from the German subtitles. Many thanks to MissPiggy for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling:

Video transcript:

00:00   Freedom isn’t about having the right owner, but about not having an owner at all.
00:08   I don’t want Italy enslaved by anybody! I don’t want to be on a long leash like a little dog
00:17   I don’t want any leash. We are the most beautiful country
00:21   and potentially the richest country in the world…
00:25   And I am tired of the fact that every step taken as a government,
00:29   a community, a company or as a worker…
00:32   must depend on the signature of an official of the European Union.
00:36   Are we a free country or are we not? Sovereign…
00:41   free to protect its borders, its companies, its beaches.
00:47   I have never had the occasion to talk to Chancellor Merkel… about the interests of my own party…
00:58   asking for advice about wining the elections, because Salvini has closed the ports.
01:07   It has never happened to me ever, it has never happened to me
01:11   ever before that I would meet someone for coffee
01:16   to complain that Salvini closes the ports. I did it and
01:21   I will do it again, if God and the Italian people want it.
01:26   Only those who have permission to enter will come to Italy. Period! And to get to the point,
01:32   anyone who feels a strong nostalgia for mass migration and the business associated with it
01:36   doesn’t get along with me!