Italian politician launches ‘Italexit’ party to take country out of eurozone

A well-known Italian senator has launched a political party in a move to take his country out of the European Union, amid a rise in anti-EU sentiments over the bloc’s failure to respond quickly to the coronavirus pandemic in Italy.

Politician Gianluigi Paragone presented his party, "Italexit," on Thursday, saying that Rome “can no longer be blackmailed by countries that offend the great prestige of Italy.”

He said that only a “really sovereign state,” like Britain, can address the economic crisis the pandemic has provoked.

Political analyst and poll expert Renato Mannheimer said Italy remains “the country that trusts Brussels the least.”

Italians' feelings toward the EU have "swung widely over the past few months,” he said.

Italy, having been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, had appealed to EU member states for help to tackle the health emergency, but the distress call met a wall of silence at the time.

When COVID-19 swept through the country in May, Rome sent an urgent message to the European Commission for help.

At the time, Italy’s hospitals which were struggling with an acute lack of ventilators were overwhelmed with coronavirus patients, with Italian doctors and nurses having run out of personal protective equipment.

“No member state responded to Italy’s request and to the commission’s call for help,” said Janez Lenarcic, the European commissioner responsible for crisis management.

The EU eventually reached a deal on Tuesday to launch an economic recovery fund worth 750 billion euros.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said that 28% of the fund would be for Italy in a mix of grants and loans that could “change the face of the country.”

Paragone reacted to the remarks, saying, “The others want to change Europe, we want to quit.”

Paragone said according to a recent survey, about seven percent of Italians would likely vote for a party campaigning to leave the eurozone, but "consensus will only grow further, in line with the lies Europe tells us.”

According to a survey by pollster SWG, just 39% of Italians said they trusted the EU at the end of May.

MG