Italy’s anger at the European Union remains high, as a poll released this week shows that four in ten Italians would like their country to abandon both the euro currency and the political bloc.
The poll shows that 6.1 percent of citizens advocate leaving the EU alone, and 7.1 percent advocating leaving the euro alone. On the other hand, as many as 40 percent of Italians represent a withdrawal from both the eurozone and the European Union, while 41.7 percent of Italians want to remain part of both institutions, reports Il Giornale.
Most Italians, around 59.9 percent, oppose the use of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), an EU guarantee fund that could lend money to Italy to combat the coronavirus pandemic.
The use of the ESM was proposed last December but was vehemently rejected by Matteo Salvini, who said it would “sanction the sale of national sovereignty” and added that Germany and its banks would be the real profitors of using the mechanism.
Earlier this month, members of the Five Star Movement, which forms the current ruling Italian coalition with the left-wing Democratic Party, threatened to overthrow Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte’s government if ESM were used.
Support for Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte continues to decline, with a poll showing that 43.9 percent of Italians do not trust him, while 11.8 percent of voters trust him.
