100 years after the Spanish flu in 1918, once again a pandemic has made the continent of Europe its epicentre with 1.7 million victims, especially Spain, Britain and Italy. In such a situation, there has been discussion that whether Italy will become the second country to quit the European Union after Britain, due to the lack of proper help in the SARS-CoV-2 infection? Since this Covid-19 pandemic, its figures of infection and deaths have aroused nationalism in Italy as it once did during the dictator Benito Mussolini, although this is not the first time such discussions have begun. It started mainly when there was a refugee crisis in Europe in 2015. At that time, Germany first said yes to asylum to Syrian, Libyan and Iraqi refugees coming from the Mediterranean Sea, but later stopped it under pressure from other European countries. Italy had to bear the brunt of this ban, as many refugees had already reached Italy by crossing the Mediterranean Sea. Then Italy sought financial help from the EU to deal with this crisis, but under pressure from Germany, the EU neither provided any economic assistance nor did it want to keep the refugees. Ever since that incident, there was anger among the citizens of Italy that they should break away from the European Union. Today the result is that the Italian economy has collapsed and this country has been moving towards poverty. Poverty also increased to such an extent that even after being a member of a developed countries such as the G7, Italy today is engaged in China’s Belt and Road Initiative project to improve its economy and raise resources from their debts.
However, when Brexit broke out in 2016, it was deemed a very easy process, but its final law was passed in January 2020, means Britain took about 4 years to leave the EU. With this proposal, a referendum was conducted by the Brexit Shock Poll asking voters who would be the next country to leave the EU after Britain, when surprisingly; most people took Italy’s name. Since then, a strategy was being created in the country that such policies should be formulated in the future to make the process of taking Italy out of the EU easier. The result of these efforts was that for the first time in history, a government opposing the EU was elected in a country. The country was none other than Italy when Giuseppe Conte became the Prime Minister in 2018. Although this government fell in 1 year, but by the time he got a chance to form the government again, he had given up to oppose the EU. However, it was proved by the government formed in 2018 that how Italian voters have made up their mind to leave the EU. Recently the Take firm conducted a survey, in which 67 percent believed that staying in the EU was harmful for Italy. Whereas in the same survey conducted in 2018, only 45 percent people accepted this. Voters believed it to be a Franco-German influencing union, so Italy would not benefit from it.
Due to the recent Corona transition, the Italian Prime Minister made a statement that this year the country’s GDP will be contract -6 percent and the debt will increase to about 150 percent of GDP. Hearing this statement, the Italian who supported the EU also believed that neighbours and the EU did not provide any assistance on the Covid-19. On the other hand, Russia, in the hour of trouble, not only sent many health equipment and doctors through its 14 military aircraft but also sent soldiers of radiation, chemical and biological defence for help. At the same time, China also sent masks, ventilators, team of doctors and PPE kits. The most amazing collaboration was discussed in that small country whose medical diplomacy has always won accolades in the world. Cuba is the country that, regardless of life, sent its team of doctors to help in not only Italy but many countries in the world. Circumstances can also be gauged from the fact that banners were put up in the cities of Italy. In which it was written that we need funds or else we will die from poverty. I think perhaps Prime Minister Conte had publicly wept in view of the death toll and the same problems of the people.
The Italian government pulled out a corona bond in March to get out of this mess so that it could raise funds from countries around the world, but Germany, Austria and the Netherlands protested against the proposal in the European Council, as well as advising Italy to arrange funds from the European Stability Mechanism. Although the process of European Stability Mechanism is very complex, the conditions of which will be tailored to the member states, not just Italy. Therefore, this incident and such a response broke the remaining spirits of Italy, as well as Prime Minister Conte also said that the Union did not help us in this hour of greatest trouble. On hearing this, nationalism reached its peak in Italy, and this anger grew so much that the people of the country had made up their mind that Italy should leave the EU. However, many experts believe that Prime Minister Conte is deliberately provoking anti-EU sentiments by resorting to ultra-nationalism, instead of facing opposition for not controlling Covid-19 like the US, Israel and Bulgaria, this anti-EU sentiments to strengthen their grip on power. Recently, the former President of the European Council, Donald Tusk advising to all member states said that this is not a political game. People are dying, so all rich countries should come forward to help Italy and other suffering countries. Anger has filled the people to such an extent that last month, an Italian senator Gianluigi Paragon created a new political party just to get Italy out of the EU.
The conclusion is that when the coronavirus infection ends, will the people of Italy pressurize the government to leave the EU? So that Italy has the sovereign right to decide on any problem in future. Today in Italy, news is blowing like the wind that the EU countries do not want to help Italy deliberately, so that they can use Italy’s strategic assets to make it a pawn with to protect their interests. It is therefore expected that after the pandemic, a proposal to leave the European Union can be brought within the tenure of Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, because he has already led an anti-EU government. I personally think that Prime Minister Conte will leave no stone unturned to awaken the sentiments of nationalism that has awakened in the minds of Italian citizens in the name of protection and sovereignty of national interests, so that their political power becomes everlasting. However, we will see how much Brexit’s decision proved to be correct and whether the decision of Itlaxit will be possible.
02 August 2020
@Published :
1. #The_Hawk Newspaper, 02nd August 2020, Sunday, National Digital Edition. ЁЯСЙhttp://www.thehawk.in/world/will-italexit-possible-from-eu-166968
