Italy has witnessed a rise in the percentage of skeptics of the viability of the European Union, in a feeling that resulted from the absence of European solidarity during the recent immigration crises and the aggravation of the situation with the outbreak of the Corona epidemic.
According to the results of opinion polls conducted this April, 71% of Italians believe that Corona undermines the European Union and about 55% agree to leave the European Union (and / or).
These proportions are significant in a country that represents one of the pillars of the Union and historically adopts European integration.
Rome accuses some of its partners, especially Germany and the Netherlands, of selfishness for refusing to share debts through the issuance of “Corona Bonds” and “European Bonds” (Euro Bond), which is what Italy desires, as this issue has become an internal political bet.
The Italian economy is suffering greatly from this crisis. The International Monetary Fund predicts that the country’s gross domestic product will decline – 9.1% this year.
The Italian far-right parties, skeptical of Europe and calling for the strengthening of Italian sovereignty, benefited from German and Dutch objections to the issuance of “Corona Bonds” to counter the consequences of the epidemic.
In this context, Georgia Meloni, head of the far-right, “Brotherhood of Italy” party that received 13.5% of the intentions of the vote, said on Friday that the government “has no clear idea of its negotiating power, because we are the ones who are currently deciding whether Europe exists.”
She added that “everyone understands that there will be no Europe without Britain and Italy, as only then a major Germany will remain that will crush everyone until France.”
Association leader Matteo Salvini takes a similar view. Despite the demise of his star after leaving the government in August 2019, his party still leads the voting intentions by 28.5%. Salvini accuses Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte of wanting to sell Italy “cheaply”.
The controversy focuses in particular on the European Council meeting next week that discusses the enactment of joint economic measures to face the repercussions of the crisis.
At the heart of the controversy is the European Stability Mechanism (the Eurozone Rescue Fund), which recalls Brussels’s dictates of Greece, which is mired in debt and the austerity policy imposed on it.
Advocates of strengthening Italian sovereignty consider that resorting to this mechanism will leave the country in a humiliating condition.
Today, Saturday, Italy recorded, in the last statistic, 23,227 deaths and 172434 cases of Corona virus since the outbreak began in the country.
Source: AFP
