Indecision killing 'Chinese colony' Italy: Salvini

For the past year, "everything is blocked, they argue over everything," whether it be Alitalia's fate or pension reform, Salvini told The European House-Ambrosetti forum on Lake Como.

The government -- a coalition of the populist Five Star movement and the centre-left Democratic Party -- was going nowhere, Salvini said, and it was time Italy began to decide its future.

With elections due later this month in seven regions, Salvini, a former hardline interior minister, said his League party wanted to provide "certainty and a future for the country".

"We want to transform Italy into a more modern, effective country based on merit and competition," he said.

Salvini also said it "was unacceptable that in Europe... Italy is seen as a Chinese colony, the Trojan horse of the Chinese dictatorship."

Unlike many of its EU peers, Italy has been at pains to maintain good ties with Beijing despite strains over the coronavirus pandemic and efforts to exclude -- on Washington's lead -- Chinese telecoms giant Huawei from the 5G systems now being built.

"Every euro of Chinese investment in sensitive infrastructure must be analysed and in certain cases, blocked," Salvini said.