European Parliament elections in May to change Europe - Italy's Salvini

The European Parliament elections in May will "change" the European Union, Italy's Interior Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini has said. "When elected politicians use terms like puppets, slaves, clowns and racists, that is not dialogue," Salvini said on Friday in a TV interview.

"But on May 26, Europe is going to change," Salvini said. Salvini's comments came after an attack on the populist government earlier this week by the European Parliament's Brexit coordinator Guy Verhofstadt during a plenary session attended by Italy's Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.

Populist movements around Europe are hoping to triumph in the May elections, ousting 'establishment' politicians like Verhofstadt, a former Belgian Prime Minister and leader of the centrist Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe group (ALDE) in the European Parliament.

(With inputs from agencies.)