Leader of Italy's far-right Lega calls on von der Leyen to resign

The head of Italy's far-right populist League party has called on European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to either "apologize or resign," after she hinted at consequences for any Italian right-wing parties that violate democratic principles.

"Was this threat, blackmail, institutional bullying? The president must either apologize or resign," Matteo Salvini told the Corriere della Sera newspaper on Saturday, a day before national polls where parties on the right are expected to come out in front.

The day before, he took part in a spontaneous protest rally in front of the European Commission representation in Rome. Demonstrators were holding signs saying "Ursula out."

At the U.S. University of Princeton on Thursday, von der Leyen responded to a student's question as to whether she was worried about the elections in Italy in light of some of the candidates' ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"If things go in a difficult direction - I had already talked about Hungary and Poland - then we have tools," she said.

Von der Leyen's office has already initiated a number of so-called infringement proceedings against the two countries and has also brought complaints before the European Court of Justice.

Italians head to the polling stations on Sunday and the far-right bloc, lead by Giorgia Meloni and her Fratelli d'Italia (Brother of Italy) party have a good chance of winning the elections, according to the latest opinion polls.

Meloni's ambitions to become prime minister are supported by former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia and Salvini's League.