On Monday 5 March, the European Commission said it was confident in the ability of the Italian authorities to form a stable government for the country. It is important to "keep calm and carry on", Commission spokesperson Margaritis Schinas stated.
The eurosceptic and europhobic parties are the big winners in the parliamentary elections that were held in Italy on Sunday 4 March. According to the nearly definitive results, the 5 Star Movement (M5S) of polemic comedian Beppe Grillo took a strong lead (32.6% of the votes) and the Lega Nord right overtook its coalition partner Forza Italia (17.4% and 14% respectively).
The social democrats of the Democratic Party (PD) were crushed, obtaining only 18.7%. Assuming failure, the former president of the Council, Matteo Renzi, resigned as secretary general of the PD. An ally of the PD, the +Europa movement will not enter the national parliament (see EUROPE 11911).
In this configuration, no coalition has obtained the majority. The leader of M5S, Luigi Di Maio, says he is open to dialogue with other political forces to assume responsibility for granting a government to his country.
The leader of Lega Nord, Matteo Salvini, stated that "the right and duty to govern" was "with the centre right". The more the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, speaks, the more votes we will get, he said. Mario Borghezio MEP (Lega Nord) hailed the victory of his "sovereigntist and identity" movement, describing it as "an encouraging message for the whole Europe of the Peoples, from the Atlantic to the Urals".
According to EUROPE's sources, the leader of the S&D Group at the European Parliament, Gianni Pittella, was elected to the Senate. He is thus expected to resign from his post so that a new group leader can be elected.
In the opinion of the European Parliament Greens/EFA Group leader, Philippe Lamberts, the victory of the parties that are perceived as 'anti-establishment' is not surprising "in a country where 30% of the population is at risk of poverty or social exclusion and 35% of young people are jobless, in a country abandoned by the other member states of the Union in the face of the migration challenge". (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)