“We have the big risk to have the most ‘anti-European’ European Parliament ever", Letta said in an expansive interview at Palazzo Chigi, his office in central Rome. He said mainstream, pro-Europe parties must win at least 70 per cent of the seats to avoid a “nightmarish legislature". “The rise of populism is today the main European social and political issue", Letta added. “To fight against populism, in my view, is a mission today — in Italy and in the other countries.”
On Monday, Letta returned to the same argument he made to save his government: that Italy must avoid political instability so that Parliament can pass important political overhauls but also because lending rates on Italian debt rise with every political crisis. He said lower interest rates could free up €15 billion from debt payments to fulfil promises on tax cuts for labour costs. “Political stability is decisive", said Letta, who conducted the interview in English. “Somebody has criticised me, saying it’s just words. It’s not words — it’s money.”
Letta, who once served as an elected member of the European Parliament, said parliamentary elections in May would serve as Europe’s biggest test on whether the momentum toward greater integration and eurozone institution building could be impeded. “The big risk is to have a European Parliament with 25 per cent of Parliament coming from anti-euro or -Europe movements", he said, noting that populist movements in different countries arose from different places on the political spectrum. “It’s very difficult to say left or right. Some of them are racists. Some of them are not racists", he added. “But they are all anti-euro and all anti-Europe.”
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