The French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has said that Donald Trump’s former aide Steve Bannon would not play a leading role in a nationalist drive to “save the real Europe” as he is “American, not European”.

Speaking during a joint press conference in Rome with Matteo Salvini, the Italian interior minister and leader of the far-right League, Le Pen said she wanted to clarify “lots of conjectures” about Bannon’s plans to set up a Europe-wide network to boost the chances of populist parties ahead of elections to the European parliament in May 2019.

“Mr Bannon is not from any European country, he is American,” said Le Pen, who heads the National Rally party, formerly known as the Front National. “His movement will offer studies, surveys and analysis … but the political force behind the EU elections is only us and us alone.

“Because we are attached to our liberty, attached to our sovereignty and we together, the representatives of the different peoples of Europe, are the ones who will shape the political forces that aim specifically to save Europe.”

Her stance appears contradict that of Salvini, who met Bannon in Rome in early September. Bannon returned to the city a few weeks later to give a speech at an event organised by the smaller far-right party, Brothers of Italy, during which he set out his vision for a new European order.

Bannon, a former banker, told the audience that events such as Brexit, Trump’s presidential victory and the election of a populist government in Italy “give the little guy a voice”. He praised Salvini and Giorgia Meloni, the leader of Brothers of Italy, and said that over the next few months he would be spending 80% of his time in Europe.

Salvini and Le Pen said on Monday that the EU elections would usher in a new era of “common sense” as nationalist parties rally to restore values, pride and dignity for ordinary workers. They called Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European commission, and Pierre Moscovici, the European commissioner for economic and financial affairs, “enemies of Europe”, saying the pair’s policies had weakened the bloc.

“We want to give the power back to the people,” said Le Pen.

Salvini described the EU administration as “enemies of the happiness of Europeans, barricaded in their bunkers in Europe”. He also blamed previous Italian administrations for “robbing Italy” and racking up the country’s debt to more than 130% of GDP.