Last Updated on May 21, 2021
The chairman of the Association of Young Republican Clubs (AYRC) agreed an official partnership with Lega Giovani, the youth wing of Italy’s leading League party, on Monday.
The statement was signed by AYRC chairman Gavin Wax on behalf of the New York Young Republican Club, along with Luca Toccalini, the chairman of Lega Giovani.
The agreement constitutes the first ever official cooperation between the League and the Republican Party on an organizational level. The AYRC is an official arm of the Young Republican National Federation, which represents grassroots Young Republican clubs across the country. Wax also serves as the Digital Director of the Young Republican National Federation.
A joint statement released by the two organizations justified the new alliance between the NYYRC and Lega Giovani.
“The New York Young Republican Club and Lega Giovani believe that forging new ties between like-minded patriotic youth movements around the world is necessary and beneficial to counter the Left’s growing international networks,” the two groups wrote.
“Our cooperation will bring our respective nations closer together, and we will collaborate to counter the international threat to Western civilization.”
It went on to detail areas of cooperation, noting that the Young Republicans would “assist Lega Giovani in outreach to New Yorkers of Italian origin who are eligible to vote in the next Italian election”.
In a statement to Italian media outlet Agenzia Nova, Toccalini described the agreement as “the latest chapter of a web of relationships that the Lega Giovani has made in Europe in recent years and now also overseas”.
Davide Quadri, the International Secretary of Lega Giovani, added to Toccalini’s statement in exclusive remarks to the National File.
“I’m very proud of the work done with NYYRC to build a strong connection and network with both parties. We have a huge opportunity with the leadership of Trump and Salvini to defend our identity and heritage from woke culture and the globalist mob,” Quadri said.
“The importance of the Italian roots in American society helped build a great Nation over the course of centuries.”
Mark Ivanyo, the Legislative Director of Republicans for National Renewal, an advocacy group that helped organize the partnership, also praised the outcome.
“We’re very proud that our ongoing efforts to build connections between European national-populist parties and Republican institutions have borne fruit in this groundbreaking agreement,” Ivanyo stated.
The League is the leading political party in Italy. Led by the charismatic populist Matteo Salvini, who previously served as Italy’s Interior Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, it has surged in the polls in recent years. The party stands for reduced immigration and reining in the unaccountable European Union in favor of national sovereignty.
