Italian Interior Minister says he prefer to see Russia in EU rather than Turkey

Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has indicated that he would prefer to see Russia join the European Union instead of Turkey.

"For decades, we have been spending billions of euros to convince the Turks to enter the EU, even though Turkey has nothing to do with Europe", Salvini said.

“Instead of supporting the idea of Turkish accession to the EU, to be honest, I would prefer to see Russia's accession into the European community", the deputy prime minister said. "Russia is much closer to us in terms of history, culture, the economy and our traditions than Turkey", Salvini noted.