GETTY Lega leader Matteo Salvini said France should stay out of Italy's internal affairs

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Lego, which is ruling alongside Five Star Movement, has vowed to put Italy first with a controversial governing accord that would cut taxes and boost welfare spending. Mr Salvini said on Twitter: “A French minister has ‘warned’ the future government: change nothing or you will have problems. Another unacceptable invasion of territory. I did not call for votes and for people’s confidence to continue going down the road of poverty, instability and immigration: Italians first!” “The French should look after France and stop poking their nose into other people’s affairs,” he told a press conference later that day. Mr Le Maire warned Mr Salvini and the head of the populist Five Star, Luigi di Maio – the two driving forces behind Italy’s new coalition government – against breaking the bloc’s fiscal rules, before urging them to maintain eurozone stability. Italy is currently the eurozone’s third largest economy.

The government “contract” between the two hardline parties that won the most parliamentary seats in the March 4 election calls for billions of euros in tax cuts, additional spending on welfare for the poor and a roll-back on pension reforms – proposals which seem incompatible with EU rules on fiscal discipline. Mr Le Maire said in a joint interview with Europe 1 radio, Les Echos newspaper and the CNews television channel: “If the new government takes the risk of not respecting its commitments on debt and the deficit, but also the clean-up of banks, the financial stability of the eurozone will be threatened. “Everyone in Italy must understand that Italy’s future is in Europe and nowhere else, and that for that future to be in Europe, there are rules that must be respected… no matter who is in power. “I respect the sovereign decision of the Italian people, but there are commitments which go beyond all of us.”

GETTY French minister Bruno Le Maire called on Italy's government to remain committed to EU fiscal policy