Franco Recupero, founder and federal secretary of the “People for the South” movement, a well-known face in Calabrian politics, former provincial secretary of the League in Reggio Calabria, protagonist for over a decade of a militancy that he himself defines as “pioneering” in a territory historically hostile to the symbol of the Northern League, accuses Roberto Vannacci of having copied the symbol of his movement, presented just yesterday in Reggio Calabria. Recupero speaks of “possible dialogue” with Vannacci, more than with Matteo Salvini. On security, on the defense of the police, on the hard line against urban violence, Recupero does not hide a cultural harmony with Vannacci.
“New ideas cannot be excluded,” he says. «’Popolo per il Sud’ – he underlines – is not an improvised idea nor an extemporaneous brand. The movement’s logo was registered on 31 December 2025 at the Revenue Agency by founder Franco Recupero, and the association is formally recognized as a political organization for all legal purposes. A detail that is anything but marginal if we consider that the trademark and logo of Futuro Nazionale – the party attributable to Vannacci – were only registered on 24 January 2026 at the European Union Intellectual Property Office. And above all that the Popolo per il Sud logo had already been presented publicly on social media on 5 September 2025. The similarities? Obvious. Practically – according to Recovery – identical. Copied, without too many turns of phrase. It is also from these details that the strength of a political project is measured: when it anticipates the times, when it dictates a style, when it forces others to catch up. Popolo per il Sud was born like this: as a movement that claims primogeniture, vision and courage. And which, like it or not, has already imposed – he concludes – a theme in the national debate: the South no longer asks for permission. It asks for decision-making power.”