German government spokesperson Wolfgang Buchner expressed a belief that Italy will not cease to be a ‘Europe-friendly country’ after the snap elections held in the country, during a press conference in Berlin on Monday.
“We must first wait for the official final result of this election as well, and then look at it, so to speak, at that point in time what the Federal Chancellor would say about it would be valid,” the politician said. “Italy is a very Europe-friendly country, with very Europe-friendly citizens, and we don’t expect that to change.”
Centre-left Italy’s Democratic Party (PD) took 19 per cent of the vote, behind Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing Fratelli d’Italia on 26 per cent. Her conservative alliance, including Matteo Salvini’s populist Lega and Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia, gained around 44 per cent, enough to control both houses of parliament.
On the other side of the political divide, the left-wing grouping managed just 26 per cent, after PD leader Enrico Letta struggled to form a stable coalition of parties.
Meloni is expected to become Italy’s first female prime minister. Her party has its origins in a movement led by Benito Mussolini’s fascist supporters, although she has declared that ‘fascism is history’.
The formation of a new government is expected to take several weeks.
