Salvini under fire for address from notorious balcony used by Mussolini to watch executions

Matteo Salvini, Italy’s deputy prime minister, has come under fire for addressing his political supporters in the town of Forli from the same balcony where former dictator Benito Mussolini witnessed the execution of his opponents during the fascist era.

Mr Salvini, head of the far-right League Party, chose the small town only 10 miles from Mussolini’s birthplace, Predappio, in the Emilia Romagna region, to make a campaign stop for the upcoming European elections last Friday night.

As around 2,000 people stood in the rain in the town’s main square, Piazza Aurelio Saffi, Mr Salvini reportedly joked that his critics would be calling for his resignation for daring to face them from the controversial balcony where Mussolini witnessed the execution of four partisans in 1944.

During Mr Salvini’s speech, members of the crowd could be heard shouting “Fascist”, while others sang “Bella Ciao!” the folk song that became the anthem of the wartime resistance.

“Here there are no fascists, but only Italians who are proud to be Italian,” Mr Salvini reportedly told the crowd. He later Tweeted: “What a show last night!”

But Vico Zanetti, president of the local branch of ANPI, the partisan organization, condemned the minister’s appearance.

“You cannot joke about Piazza Saffi,” he said. “Here they hung the bodies of four partisans: Silvio, Corbari, Adriano Casadei, Arturo Spazzoli and Iris Versari, who was 20 years old.”

Outgoing mayor Davide Drei from the centre-left Democratic Party also criticised the minister for exploiting Italy’s “painful” past.

“Using the town hall balcony to address a rally seems to mimic the regime’s pre-war rallies,” he said in a Facebook post.  “A terrible night unfortunately for our city (and) the worst way to run an election campaign.”

Mr Drei said the square was a shrine to war victims and a place of respect to remember the slain partisans.

The hardline interior minister has been accused of flirting with Italy’s fascist past more than once. Last year he was criticised for using a phrase similar to one made popular by Mussolini and some of his publicity stunts have been compared to the behaviour of the Italian dictator.

Last July Mr Salvini wrote on Twitter: “So many enemies, so much honour”.

His words – “Tanti nemici, tanto onore” – were almost identical to one of Mussolini’s well-known sayings – “Molti nemici, molto onore”, meaning "Many enemies, much honour".

Wartime memories continue to divide Italians. Last week an official from the state broadcaster RAI was forced to resign after televising a commemoration by Mussolini supporters honouring the dictator’s anniversary, because the segment was considered too sympathetic to fascism.

As Mr Salvini continued campaigning in Florence and Foligno at the weekend, his coalition partner, the Five Star Movement, warned the government would fall unless  the League agreed to sack a junior minister accused of corruption.

Relations between 5-Star and League have grown increasingly strained in the run-up to EU elections on May 26 over the fate of junior transport minister Armando Siri, who is very close to Mr Salvini.

He is under investigation for allegedly accepting a bribe from a wind farm entrepreneur linked to the Sicilian Mafia.

Siri has denied wrongdoing, but 5-Star has said he must resign for the good of the government and the prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, agrees. But the League, which has surged in the polls over the past year and has easily overtaken 5-Star as Italy’s leading party, has so far refused to back down.