Italexit Political Party is Italy’s Newest Hope of Leaving the EU

ROME, KOMPAS.com – A new political party will soon enter the Italian government, Italexit, and it is poised to be announced later this week and its leader is on a mission to take Italy out of the European Union.

Renowned Italian senator Gianluigi Paragone is the mastermind behind the Italexit party.

He is seeking to capitalize on anti-Brussels sentiment as Italy struggles to keep its national economy afloat amid the coronavirus pandemic.

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Paragone, a former TV journalist, met with Nigel Farage in London on Monday.

Nigel Farage is the key architect behind the successful divorce between the United Kingdom and the EU.

After meeting the Britishman,Paragone proceeded to announce the formal birth of his Italexit party.

"We can no longer be blackmailed by countries that offend the great prestige of Italy," Paragone said, adding that only a "really sovereign state", like Britain, can address the economic crisis the pandemic has provoked.

Time will tell if Paragone's movement can sufficiently harness the anti-EU sentiment spreading in Italy in recent years.

Previous attempts to take advantage of Italians’ anger against the EU has only shown that the anti-EU sentiment lacks an obvious political home in Italy.

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Paragone left the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement soon after it formed a government with the pro-European Democratic Party (PD) last year, moderating its critical attitude towards Brussels institutions.

Even Matteo Salvini's right-wing League, until recently the main rallying point for eurosceptics, has softened its line against Brussels and the euro in a bid to gain respectability.

The timing of Paragone's move looks questionable, coming as the EU reached a deal on Tuesday to launch an economic Recovery Fund worth €750 billion, which the bloc's supporters say shows its renewed cohesion and vision.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said earlier on Tuesday that 28 percent of the fund would be for Italy in a mix of grants and loans that could "change the face of the country".

"The others want to change Europe, we want to quit," Paragone said after the EU deal was struck.

The European issue has dominated Italian politics in recent years, with eurosceptics blaming the EU for the country's chronic economic stagnation and its difficulties in handling migrant arrivals from Africa.

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A Eurobarometer survey in 1998 showed 69 percent of Italians supported EU membership, while in 2002, after the introduction of euro notes and coins, Italy was the second-most pro-euro nation after Luxembourg, with 79 percent expressing a positive opinion.

A survey by pollster SWG at the end of May showed just 39 percent of Italians said they trusted the EU. 

(Writer & Editor: Gavin Jones and Alison Williams) 

Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-italy-politics-italexit/italexit-popular-senator-launches-party-to-take-italy-out-of-eu-idUSKCN24M1N8