MILAN (AP) — Italian Deputy Premier Matteo Salvini says he supports a review of a high-speed railway project that protests kept stalled for decades.

But Salvini said during a visit to the construction site on Friday that he thinks the European Union project should be completed. The railway would connect Lisbon, Portugal to Kiev, Ukraine.

Salvini noted that 25 kilometers (15 miles) of tunnel have already been cleared and says "turning back will cost us as much as going ahead."

Italy would face financial penalties if it pulled out.

His backing of the railway puts him at odds with his League party's governing coalition partner. The 5-Star Movement grew up opposing the project as too costly and initially, as environmentally damaging.

A dozen protesters pelted snowballs at police officers near the site.