FROM EIR DAILY ALERT

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EU Commission Rejects Italian Budget Plan

Oct. 6, 2018 (EIRNS)—EU Commissioners for Euro and Social Dialogue Valdis Dombrovskis and for Economic and Financial Affairs Pierre Moscovici sent a letter to Italian Economy Minister Giovanni Tria, claiming that Italy’s deficit targets are a “source of serious concern.” The move is out of protocol and resembles, albeit at a lower level, the “ultimatum” sent in summer 2011 to the Italian government by Mario Draghi and Jean-Claude Trichet, respectively incoming and outgoing presidents of the European Central Bank, which started the economic warfare and the coup that eventually replaced Italy’s legitimate government with an EU-executioner cabinet led by Mario Monti.

The content of the letter was leaked to La Repubblica on Oct. 5:

“We call on the Italian authorities to ensure that the (budget) will be in compliance with the common fiscal rules and look forward to seeing the details of the measures,”

said the two-page letter, which La Repubblica excerpted.

The letter is viewed as a hostile act by both government supporters and adversaries, and vindicates warnings by European Affairs Minister Paolo Savona, who had said last week that, Italy, with an anti-austerity budget, “threw down the gauntlet to the Old Europe. Now we must win the war, because it will be war.”

In an indirect response, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Alberto Bagnai tweeted:

“They are ridiculous. Imposing austerity on us has created enough problems, and also on their homelands. Those Fathers of Europe, who believe that their daughter will run faster by unloading one of her manufacturing legs, are dangerous, but above all ridiculous.”