Matteo Salvini (born 9 March 1973) is an Italian politician and professional journalist serving as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Transport since October 2022, as well as Federal Secretary of the Lega party since December 2013. A member of Lega since 1990, Salvini has held various party roles as well as institutional positions, including as a member of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2018 and as a senator since 2018. Salvini gained national prominence by transforming Lega from a regionalist party focused on northern Italian interests into a national force emphasizing sovereignty, fiscal federalism, and opposition to uncontrolled immigration. Under his leadership, Lega achieved significant electoral success, polling around 17% in the 2018 general election as part of the coalition that formed government. His political style leverages social media to communicate directly with supporters, amassing the largest following among Italian politicians across platforms. As Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior from June 2018 to September 2019, Salvini prioritized curbing illegal migration, declaring Italian ports closed to vessels operated by non-governmental organizations transporting rescued migrants and enacting the “Salvini Decree” to limit access to humanitarian protection and reception services. These measures correlated with a sharp decline in sea arrivals during his tenure, from peaks exceeding 100,000 annually prior to 2018. Salvini’s approach drew international attention and domestic support for prioritizing border security over open-sea rescues coordinated by supranational entities. Salvini’s tenure has been marked by legal controversies, including an ongoing trial for alleged kidnapping stemming from his refusal to allow the NGO ship Open Arms to disembark migrants in 2019, with prosecutors seeking a six-year sentence; Salvini maintains the actions protected Italian interests against unauthorized entries. In the current Meloni government, he continues to advocate for policies favoring national control over migration flows and EU relations, while facing criticism from pro-integration advocates whose outlets often frame such stances through lenses of institutional bias.