Russia poses threat to Italian election, says centre-left chief

Enrico Letta, the head of the centre-left Democratic Party (PD), smiles during an interview with Reuters about the forthcoming national election that was called after the surprise collapse of Mario Draghi's unity government, in Rome, Italy, July 25, 2022. REUTERS/Remo Casilli

Moscow could try to skew the forthcoming Italian national election by spreading fake news on social media to favour pro-Russian parties, the head of Italy's centre-left Democratic Party (PD) said on Monday.

Enrico Letta, who is trailing a rightist alliance in the polls, said he wanted Italian intelligence agencies and the European Union's disinformation unit to monitor the two-month election campaign and prevent outside interference.