Italy's Salvini wants populists, popular party to guide new EU Commission

ROME (Reuters) - Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, who also leads the far-right League party, said on Tuesday he wants the new European Commission to be led by conservatives and populists.

"The aim is to cancel the duopoly between the socialists and Christian democrats," Salvini told reporters after taping a talk show in Rome. A new Commission will be seated after a European Parliament election during the first half of 2019.

When asked if he wanted populists to ally with the European Popular Party to back the new Commission, he replied: "Yes, that's the goal."

(Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte, writing by Steve Scherer, editing by Francesca Landini)