Italys election results highlight struggle to govern in Europe as populist forces rise
Griff Witte and Michael Birnbaum, The Washington Post, 05.03.2018
Quotes
After voters from the snowy peaks of the Alps to the sunny shores of Sicily delivered a verdict so fractured and mysterious it could take months to sort out, the banner headline Monday in the venerable daily La Stampa captured the state of a nation thats left no one in charge: Ungovernable Italy. [...]
The situation is less volatile than three or four years ago, said Janis Emmanouilidis, director of policy studies at the Brussels-based European Policy Center. Back then, markets would have gone crazy. There would have been fear and panic.
The mild reaction, Emmanouilidis said, also reflects something Europe has learned about its anti-establishment forces once they take power: Their vicious bark turns out to be a far gentler bite.
Greece learned that after electing the far-left Syriza movement in 2015, only to see it back down from a fight with the countrys creditors and adopt many of the same positions it had long vilified. [...]
In Italy, both Five Star and the League have already softened their stance on the euro and the European Union, anticipating a shot at power and the chance to work within the system, rather than rail against it from the outside.
Some of these movements have become demystified, Emmanouilidis said. Theyve become part of the establishment.
Read full article here
Latest media contributions
EPC Update: EUrope in 2026: the need for strategic choices
Online Briefing, YouTube, 12.01.2026
EPC Update / Post-summit Briefing: The last EU Summit of 2025: a real moment of truth?
Online Briefing, YouTube, 19.12.2025
The next MFF: an adequate answer to EUrope’s challenges?
Online Briefing, YouTube, 24.11.2025
The future of enlargement and EU reform – the candidates' perspective
EU Democracy Reform Conversation, YouTube, 27.10.2025
October Summit: Can the European Council move from divisions to delivery?
Online Briefing, YouTube, 24.10.2025
EPC Update / Post-summit Briefing: Copenhagen and beyond: accelerating progress on defence and Ukraine?
Online Briefing, YouTube, 02.10.2025
State of the Union 2025: A crisis of confidence?
Online Briefing, YouTube, 10.09.2025
EPC Update / Post-summit Briefing: A tale of two summits: Will the EU27 agree on a major leap forward?
Online Briefing, YouTube, 27.06.2025
Nawrocki prezydentem. „Osłabienie Donalda Tuska w Brukseli”
Quotes, Deutsche Welle (Polish edition), 02.06.2025
A Test of Times – Permachange through enlargement and EU reform
EPC Policy Briefing, YouTube, 28.05.2025