Why Italians are fed up with Europe

Joep Bertrams

 

The rise to government of Eurosceptic parties is the consequence of austerity policies made in the name of cleaner public finances and of the euro convergence criteria.

Two Eurosceptic forces are now governing Italy. On one hand the 5-Star Movement, the anti-system party of Luigi de Maio founded by the humorist Beppe Grillo. On the other, far-right xenophobic Liga led by Matteo Salvini. How could this have happened? How did one of the European Union’s six founding members, host of Treaty of Rome in 1957, and for a long time the EU’s most Europhile country, give a parliamentary majority to groups so hostile to European integration?

Italian election 2018 results: ‘Italy is OVER!’ Twitter meltdown after ‘populist’ success

Italian election 2018: The exit polls in Italy are showing that the 5-Star Movement in the lead (Getty)

 

A NEW hashtag has started trending in Italy in the wake of the historical success of “populist parties” with users claiming #Italyisoverparty, it has been revealed.

The exit polls in Italy are showing that the Eurosceptic 5-Star Movement party set to win the most votes and the anti-immigration party Lega are due to win more votes than Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza.

The front page headline on the first edition of La Stampa newspaper says: “Di Maio wins, Italy ungovernable.”

Austria election RESULTS: Eurosceptic Sebastian Kurz declares VICTORY in nightmare for EU

As stated over and over again, Europe is going to take a far right swing. All it needed was a catalyst and the immigration issue has proved to be one, along with islamic terrorist attacks and Germany’s fourth power grab for Europe.

 

Sebastian Kurz arrives with his partner ahead of the elections (Getty)

 

SEBASTIAN Kurz has declared victory in the Austrian elections following the latest vote projections, which could see him form an alliance with the far-right in a crushing blow for the European Union.

The People’s Party (OVP) got 30.2 per cent of the vote, according to exit polls from Austrian news channel ORF.

Mr Kurz’s party is tough on migration, easy on taxes and widely Eurosceptic after rebranding itself over the last few months to propel its popularity in the wealthy Alpine nation.

I fear German dominance. That’s why I’m for remaining in the EU

The author is 50% right and 50% wrong. Simon Jenkens explains that a Brexit would mean Germany will be given free rein over Europe once again and to be able to do what it wants without being stopped. This is the the half portion where he’s right.

Where he’s wrong is that he’s missing 50% of the picture: Germany doesn’t really care what Great Britain does, it’s advantageous either way. If the Britons wish to remain in, they will be subjugated to Germany as they run the EU and two thirds of the Troika which is stacked with unelected officials answerable to nobody — and coincidentally mostly German. To see where the scenario of staying in would lead to, just look at Greece. It’s a vassal state with no more sovereign rights and gets dictated to on economic policy, the terms of the bailout it accepted under Communist Varoufakis and Tsipras. The same for Cyprus.

This is the price for staying in and reaping what the leadership in Germany and Brussels call “benefits”.

One day people are going to wake up and realize the Fourth Reich is here — and it’s pushing for a tyrannical United States of Europe. Its respective EU Army (NATO’s replacement) is already under construction. Soon you won’t be flying into a continent called Europe, but a nation called Europe.

You might’ve seen this quote often here by now, but it still couldn’t be any more true and relevant for today:

 

“You have not anchored Germany to Europe,… You have anchored Europe to a newly dominant, unified Germany. In the end, my friends, you’ll find it will not work.“

– Margaret Thatcher

 

In the end, this referendum is about politics not economics. And a Britain that votes to stay in the club will wield serious clout

Decision time is here. The dither must stop. The referendum campaign has been tedious and infuriating, but in truth enthralling. I cannot remember a political event that has so consumed public discussion. In every pub, workplace, college and home, friends have argued, families feuded, allegiances splintered. Only the 2014 Scottish referendum came near it. For two months democracy has been asked to do that most alarming thing: to think for itself, independent of party. It is awesome. It is also dangerous.

I have deliberately switched sides each week during the campaign, to see how the much-vaunted “facts” register against divergent prejudices. I have subjected my poor brain to a barrage of “reality checks”, and meticulously balanced pros and cons. I have long been a Eurosceptic, but that is not the same as being a leaver.

The eurozone crisis is just getting started

The project to impose political union is bringing economic ruin, making the legitimacy of the EU project ever more vulnerable

On the face of it, they seem worlds apart. Switzerland’s referendum vote against the free movement of labour, the ruling by the German Constitutional Court on the European Central Bank’s (ECB) attempts to save the euro, and the warning to Scotland that it won’t be allowed to keep the pound if it votes for independence – these might seem unrelated, but in truth they are all part of an increasingly explosive stand-off between the forces of national sovereignty on the one hand, and political and economic integration on the other.