After more than two months of Yellow Vest protests against the economic policies of the French government, President Emmanuel Macron claimed that he too could be a ‘yellow vest’ if the movement stands for higher salaries. “If being a yellow vest means wanting fewer parliamentarians and work being paid better, I am a yellow vest, too!” Macron said on Thursday in an attempt to align with the grassroots movement against economic injustice, which was born as a protest against the French government’s policies. In an interview with several French journalists (BFM TV, Paris Match, Le Figaro) he described the Yellow Vests as a social and political movement without “a fixed claim and leader,” as well as saying that it has “mutated” since its inception and has been “infiltrated by 40,000 to 50,000 militants who want the destruction of institutions.” Macron also spoke about the RIC – the “Citizens’ Initiative Referendum” – a referendum demanded

Matteo Salvini, Italy’s opinionated deputy PM, said that he hopes the French people can rid themselves of the “terrible” leadership of President Emmanuel Macron. Salvini’s jibe is the latest salvo in an ongoing feud with Paris. "I hope that the French will be able to free themselves from a terrible president," the populist leader said in a Facebook video posted on Tuesday. "The opportunity will come on May 26 [the European Parliament elections] when finally the French people will be able to take back control of its future, destiny, pride, which are poorly represented by a character like Macron.” While French voters will not be exactly replacing Macron in the upcoming elections, his En Marche! movement is expected to lose ground to right-wing rival Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party. The more nationalists France sends to the European Parliament, the bigger the blow to Macron’s Europhilic ambitions, which include sharing of sovereignty with France’s n