The leader of Italy's far-right League party, Matteo Salvini, on Tuesday rapped European leaders, accusing them of interfering in the formation of coalition government with the populist Five-Star Movement.
"They keep invading our pitch. After the French and the Germans, today it is Luxembourg foreign minister Jean Asselborn's turn," Salvini wrote on Facebook. Those abroad should calm down - we will take care of Italians," Salvini wrote on Facebook.
Salvini was referring to remarks by Asselborn on Tuesday saying he hoped Italian President Sergio Mattarella "will not allow" a new government in Rome "to destroy all the work done in recent years" at European Union level to overcome the financial crisis.
Earlier, EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem said there were "worrying aspects" of the nascent government between the League and Five-Star, whose proposals include renegotiating Italy's debt, a crackdown on immigration and lifting sanctions against Russia.
In an interview with German daily Handelsblatt, European Commission vice-president Valdis Dombrovskis said the EU executive considered it vital for Italy to maintain fiscal discipline and "responsible budgetary policy".
The League and Five Star, which together got the most votes of any of Italy's political parties in the inconclusive 4 March national polls, on Monday unveiled their joint candidate for premier - little-known law professor Giuseppe Conte - who has yet to be approved by Italy's president Sergio Mattarella.
It is understood Mattarella has significant reservations about the direction of the new government and on Tuesday convened the leaders of Italy's two houses of parliament to meet with him.
