(Adnkronos) – Italy has hailed the victory in Germany’s parliamentary polls on Sunday of the conservatives, who are expected try and form a coalition with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) after an 85% electoral turnout not seen since before reunification in 1990.
The CDU-CSU’s win of 28.6% – the highest share of votes cast – “must be evaluated positively for at least three reasons, Tajani told Corriere della Sera daily in an interview on Tuesday.
“These reasons are domestic, bilateral and international,” said Tajani, whose conservative Forza Italia party has traditionally strong ties with the German EPP (European People’s Party).
Tajani underlined his firm opposition to a possible right-wing coalition involving the AfD, who scored a record 20.8% of votes, ahead of the SPD’s 16.4% of ballots.
“It would be unnatural. The AfD is the negation of European popularism and also views our country with hostility, as well as espousing completely unacceptable ideas,” Tajani said. ”
I’m happy that these mostly protest votes were wasted,” he said.
Friedrich Merz’s conservatives scored “a clear victory – that of a party that knows how to contain extremism and that wages a serious electoral campaign on issues that interest its voters: a sustainable but measured green transition and controlled immigration, security and growth”, Tajani stated.
A stable conservative-centre-left coalition government in Germany is important for Italy and for Europe, Tajani argued.
“It will mean a great deal for Italy- Our economy is closely linked to Germany’s and vice versa and German growth would have positive effects for us too,” Tajani said.
“We are the first and second largest European manufacturer respectively and we have a similar approach to politics,” he said.
A Germany that once again plays a leading role at European level and and is economic driving force “strengthens everyone”, Tajani argued.
“With Merz we can move forward along the path that truly strengthens the EU, the one that De Gasperi and Adenauer envisaged, the one that Berlusconi dreamed of: that of a common European defence. Because that is the crux,” Tajani underlined.
