ROME (Sputnik) — Roberto Maroni, the president of the Italian northern region of Lombardy, on Monday signed a decree to hold a vote on regional independence on October 22, a Sputnik correspondent reported.
In April, Maroni said that the autonomy referendum in Lombardy would be held on October 22, as well as in the neighboring region of Veneto.
The signing ceremony took place in the city of Cremona and was times to coincide with the regional holiday celebrated in commemoration of the Battle of Legnano in 1776, when local forces defeated the troops of the Holy Roman Empire headed by Frederick Barbarossa.
Maroni, as well as his Veneto counterpart Luka Dzaia, are the members of the Lega Nord party backing the greater autonomy of the country's wealthy northern regions. In February, Matteo Salvini, the party's leader announced that the referendums on the autonomy would take place in Lombardy and Veneto.
