Italian judge drops case on alleged Russian funding to League party

MILAN (Reuters) - An Italian judge agreed on Thursday to drop a case in which a former adviser to League leader Matteo Salvini and two other people were being investigated for alleged illicit party funding from Russia, according to a court document.

The League is part of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's right-wing coalition government.

Milan prosecutors had in January asked the judge to dismiss the case in a statement explaining that they had failed to gather sufficient evidence to pursue the investigation after Moscow failed to respond to requests for assistance submitted by the Italian judicial authority.

In the court document reviewed by Reuters, the office of Milan judge Stefania Donadeo notified the lawyers of the three suspects that a decree of dismissal had been filed on Thursday.

Salvini, who serves as both deputy prime minister and transport minister, welcomed the judge's decision on Twitter, saying he now expects an apology from many people and is preparing to sue others over the affair.

The Milan prosecutor's office opened an investigation in 2019 alleging the crime of international bribery after media reports that Salvini's former adviser Gianluca Savoini had held talks in Moscow in October 2018 with Russian businessmen about a possible oil deal that would enable funds to be siphoned to the League.

Savoini denied the allegations at the time and Salvini denied that his party received any money from Moscow.

Salvini had been a strong supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin before last year's invasion of Ukraine.

(Reporting by Emilio Parodi; Editing by Keith Weir)