Alt-Right In Europe: Italy Shuts Down Steve Bannon's Plans For A Political Training Academy

The Italian government decided Friday to revoke Steve Bannon's lease on a state-owned monastery where the former Trump advisor sought to train right-wing political activists.

The Italian government said in a statement that the decision to evict Bannon did not have to do with his political opinions but rather his failure to pay a concession fee and his lack of maintenance work on the 800-year old Certosa di Trisulti monastery near Rome.

Bannon had originally pledged to invest $1 million towards Rome-based Dignitatis Humanae Institute (DHI), which has been criticized by Italy's left.

Gianluca Vacca, an official at Italy's Culture Ministry, said in a statement that the negligence with the lease meant that "proceeding with the revocation is thus a duty."

Bannon's associate, Benjamin Harnwell, who serves as the director of DHI, has sought to run the school and train political activists on how to "defend the west."

"While the ministry has announced it is initiating proceedings to revoke the lease, the DHI will contest this illegitimate maneuver with every resource at its disposal no matter how many years it takes," Harnwell told Agence France Presse.

Bannon, an alt-right ideologue and activist, has sought to build partnerships with European populist politicians such as France's Marine Le Pen and Italy's Matteo Salvini. Earlier this month, however, a member of the right-wing Alternative of Germany (AfD) said at a European populist rally that in regards to Bannon, "We don't need him."

Bannon first rose to prominence as the co-founder of the right-wing Breitbart News website, which began publishing in 2007. He then became an influential political strategist in Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.

His association with white nationalist ideas made him a controversial figure. In August 2017, the White House fired Bannon due to media pressure after the Unite the Rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, which resulted in violence.