(Bloomberg) -- Italy’s Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said that whether a united European Union “still exists or not” will be decided within a year, adding he is aware his stand on migration could topple German Chancellor Angela Merkel from power.

Salvini, who is also deputy premier, told German magazine Der Spiegel, in an interview to be published Saturday, that talks on the EU’s budget, as well as the European Parliament elections in 2019 will reveal “whether the whole thing makes no sense any more.”

Salvini said he is aware that his hardline stand on migrants could lead to Merkel’s political downfall, according to Spiegel, adding this isn’t Italy’s intention “even though we’re very far apart, not just on the migration issue.” In a reference to migrants, Salvini said: “We can’t take even one more, actually we want to hand over a couple.”

To contact the reporter on this story: John Follain in Rome at jfollain2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alan Crawford at acrawford6@bloomberg.net, Kevin Costelloe, Tony Czuczka

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