Europe

Italy's Salvini vows to change Europe after regional win

Associated Press
Published | Updated

Center-right coalition candidate for governor of the Basilicata region Vito Bardi is surrounded by reporters as he arrives to meet the media in Potenza, southern Italy, Monday, March 25, 2019, a day after people in Basilicata voted in regional elections. The center-right led by Matteo Salvini’s League wrested control of the small southern region of Basilicata from the center-left Democratic Party that ran the regional government for a quarter of a century. Salvini on Monday touted the victory, saying that the League had tripled the number of votes in the region since last year’s national election, taking a swipe at the weakened center-left and looking ahead to elections for European parliament in May with ‘’greetings to the left, now to change Europe.’’ (Tony Vece/ANSA via AP)

Center-right coalition candidate for governor of the Basilicata region Vito Bardi, center, arrives to meet the media in Potenza, southern Italy, Monday, March 25, 2019, a day after people in Basilicata voted in regional elections. The center-right led by Matteo Salvini’s League wrested control of the small southern region of Basilicata from the center-left Democratic Party that ran the regional government for a quarter of a century. Salvini on Monday touted the victory, saying that the League had tripled the number of votes in the region since last year’s national election, taking a swipe at the weakened center-left and looking ahead to elections for European parliament in May with ‘’greetings to the left, now to change Europe.’’ (Tony Vece/ANSA via AP)

Italy's center-right, led by Matteo Salvini's League, has wrested control of the small southern region of Basilicata from the center-left Democratic Party that ran the regional government for nearly a quarter of a century.

Salvini on Monday touted the victory, saying that the League had tripled the number of votes in the region since last year's national election and he was looking ahead to elections for the European parliament in May. "Now to change Europe."

The center-right candidate, Vito Bardo, won 42 percent of the vote, ahead of the center-left's 33 percent. The 5-Star Movement took 20 percent, less than half of the vote registered in last year's national election when it dominated the region.