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Salvini, Italy's interior minister and leader of the League party, said the group would "change the rules of Europe" when he presented his plans at a luxury hotel in Milan alongside MEPs from the Alternative for Germany (AfD), the Danish People's Party and Finland's True Finns.
He said he wants the new group to play a decisive role in choosing the members of the next European Commission later this year following May's European election.
"Our goal is to finally be a governing force and a force of change," Salvini said.
He said those assembled in Milan would work together with the League's traditional allies such as Marine Le Pen's National Rally, although the French party was notably absent from Monday's event. The parties share common themes, he added, including border control and "the fight against terrorism and against extremism."
The event, held under the title "Toward a Europe of Common Sense," represented a dramatic ramping-up of populist ambitions for the next European Parliament.
Yet Euroskeptic parties have often struggled to work together in the legislature, or even to stay united within their blocs — meaning that Salvini will have his work cut out to form a stable and cohesive alliance this time. [...]