About: Italian elections 2018 Archives

Italy's president is expected to ask a former International Monetary Fund official today (28 May) to head a stopgap government amidst political and constitutional turmoil, with early elections looking inevitable.

Italy's president on Wednesday (23 May) approved little-known lawyer Giuseppe Conte's nomination to be prime minister of a government formed by far-right and anti-establishment parties.

The European Commission on Wednesday (23 May) approved Italy’s efforts to balance its public accounts but asked the new government for a “credible response” in order to further reduce its immense public debt.

Market pressure, the strong hand of EU institutions and the limits of power will determine how far the new Italian government will go in shaking up the eurozone’s status quo.

All eyes are on Italy as the far-right League and rebellious Five Star Movement close in on power, ringing alarm bells in Brussels as the country inches towards becoming the first EU founding member to have a euro-sceptic government.

Italy's anti-establishment 5-Star Movement and the far-right League on Monday (21 May) proposed Giuseppe Conte, a little-known law professor, as prime minister to lead their big-spending coalition government.

As Italy gets closer to having a cabinet dominated by the 5-Star Movement, the rejection of this force by the liberal ALDE group in January 2017 increasingly looks like a strategic mistake.

Italy inched closer towards ending more than two months of political deadlock on Thursday (17 May) as anti-establishment leader Luigi Di Maio said he was confident an agreement would be reached on forming a coalition government with the far-right.

The anti-establishment 5-Star Movement and far-right Northern League plan to ask the European Central Bank to forgive €250 billion of Italian debt, according to a draft of a coalition programme the parties are working on.

Italy's anti-establishment 5-Star Movement and the far-right League spent the weekend locked in talks to forge a common policy programme and called the head of state on Sunday (13 May) to report on their progress towards naming a prime minister.

This year’s “State of the Union” conference opened in Florence on Friday  (11 May), coinciding with the news that Italy is likely to get a coalition government of two Eurosceptic forces, both keen on leaving the eurozone. Speaking at the event, European Parliament President Antonio Tajani strongly warned Italy against exiting the euro.

The anti-establishment 5-Star Movement and far-right League have made "significant steps" towards forming a government, the two parties said Thursday (10 May) as Italy looked to end nine weeks of political deadlock.

The prospect of an election re-run in Italy grew today (7 May) as President Sergio Mattarella held a final round of consultations to try to break two months of political deadlock with party leaders still far apart.

Deep-rooted hostility built up over years must be overcome if the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement and the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) are to strike a deal to form a government and end Italy's post-election stalemate.

Italy's anti-establishment 5-Star Movement opened the door to coalition talks with the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) on Tuesday (24 April), saying the only other way to end a political deadlock would be a return to the polls.

Talks aimed at resolving Italy's political stalemate failed to break the deadlock and a new round of consultations will be held next week, President Sergio Mattarella said on Thursday (5 April).

Italy's anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, the largest party in parliament after this month's election, should try to form a government with its far-right rivals the League, two of its senior politicians said on Tuesday (27 March).

The strong performance of Eurosceptic parties in Italy's 4 March election stands out in a country that was generally pro-European in years past. EURACTIV.fr reports.

Senior members of Italy's vanquished Democratic Party yesterday (6 March) eyed a possible deal with the triumphant 5-Star Movement (M5S), following an election that left the country with a hung parliament and anti-establishment and far-right parties vying to form a government.

Former Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi resigned yesterday (5 March) as leader of the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) after a bruising election defeat, but pledged that his party would not strike deals with the anti-establishment parties that voters favoured.

In a wide-ranging interview on Monday (5 March), Russia’s ambassador to the EU Vladimir Chizhov discussed Syria and eastern Ukraine, the current tensions between Gazprom and Naftogaz, as well as the Italian election.

The anti-establishment 5-Star movement and the far-right Northern League could have enough support for a majority after Sunday's (4 March) general election, although some analysts believe such a coalition is unlikely.

Since the start of the election campaign in Italy, fake videos and pictures have circulated on social networks. EURACTIV.com looks into the main ones as part of the ‘Fact or Fake’ series, in partnership with France 24.

European Parliament President Antonio Tajani said yesterday (1 March) he would stand as candidate for prime minister for former premier Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia, or "Go Italy!" party, in the 4 March vote.