Earlier in the week, he had greeted him with a special gift: a t-shirt depicting President Putin, whom Salvini has often said is an admirer. “It was hypocritical of him to come here,” said the Polish city councilor on Saturday.
The Northern League leader’s trip to the Polish-Ukrainian border had already sparked some thoughts in Italy. Salvini is indeed reputed to be radically opposed to immigration and has already presented himself on several occasions as an admirer of the Russian president, not hesitating to qualify him as “the best statesman”. He notably posted a photo of himself in Red Square, decked out in a t-shirt adorned with the photo of the Russian president, subtitled “Putin’s Army”.
It was this t-shirt that the Polish mayor offered him in front of the press, stating that he had “no respect” for him. He then invited him to visit the refugee camps to see for himself “what his friend Putin had done.”
Images of the incident have gone around the world, and a few days later, Mr. Bakun has no regrets. “I told him everything I wanted to tell him,” he said on Saturday during a visit to the reception center for refugees in his city. This conflict is not new, “but Salvini supported Putin and his war for a long time. Now he comes here to show his solidarity with the refugees? This is hypocritical behavior.”