Italian MEP Salis Isn’t a Terrorist, Declares Deputy Premier Tajani to Hungarian Leader Orban

Rome: Italian MEP Ilaria Salis is not a terrorist, Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani stated on Friday in response to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s remarks. Orbán had mentioned Salis while announcing Budapest’s intention to follow the Trump administration’s move to label ‘Antifa’ as a terrorist organization.

According to Ansa News Agency, Salis was released from house arrest in Hungary, where she faced trial for her alleged involvement in an assault on far-right demonstrators in February 2023. Her release came after she was elected as a member of the European Parliament for the Italian Green and Left Alliance (AVS) in June 2024. Her detention conditions, described as inhumane during her 16-month incarceration in a Hungarian jail, sparked protests in Italy.

During her trial, Salis was led into court with her ankles and wrists cuffed, a standard procedure in Hungary, which nevertheless caused shock and indignation in Italy. Tajani, leader of the centre-right Forza Italia (FI) party,
expressed his disbelief in Salis being a terrorist. “Her views are very different from mine, there’s a trial involving her, but I don’t think she’s a terrorist,” he stated.

In an interview with Kossuth Radio, Orbán referred to ‘Antifa’ as a “terrorist organization” and alluded to Salis in his comments. “They also came here, beat innocent people on the street, beat some of them to death, then went to Brussels to become representatives of the European Parliament and from there they are giving lessons to Hungary on the rule of law,” Orban said.