ROME – Matteo Salvini has chosen a Altaforte, a publishing house with close links to CasaPound, to publish his new book, according to the Altaforte website. 

 The publishing house is led by Franceso Polacchi, who was behind CasaPound’s monthly Il Primato Nazionale. Salvini’s book, Io Sono Matteo Salvini, intervista allo specchio, was written by journalist Chiara Giannini with a preface by Maurizio Belpietro.

 On the website of Altaforte, the book is described as “One hundred questions to the most discussed man in Europe.” It explains, “Because Italy is not Poland, Hungary or the Czech Republic. Italy is one of the founding countries of the European Union and its third tax-contributor.”

 Altraforte have published other titles such as La dottrina del fascismo by Benito Mussolini and Giovanni Gentile. Their website advertises this as a book which can be considered the “cultural foundation” of a movement which “through struggle, led fascism itself to complete the Revolution.”

 Matteo Orfini, President of the Democratic Party, pointed out on Twitter that Salvini had chosen from a thousand publishers the one with links to CasaPound. Salvini “legitimises illegality,” he said.

 Salvini’s press office pointed out that the book was not authored by Salvini himself, and claimed that the publishing house was chosen freely by the author.

 CasaPound has been in the news recently. Francesco Chiricozzi, 19, and Marco Licci, 21, both members of CasaPound and the former a city councillor, stand accused of raping a woman in Viterbo.

 CasaPound is strongly anti-immigration, and is considered by many to be a neo-Nazi group. It has strong ideological links to fascism.

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