Leader of anti-establishment
5-Star Movement (M5S) Beppe Grillo on Tuesday said Guy
Verhofstadt, chair of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for
Europe (ALDE), is "small-minded" and "bowed to establishment
pressure", in a post on his blog announcing the failure of a
short-lived M5S deal to join ALDE. Grillo said Verhofstadt
"should only be ashamed of himself". "With the ALDE accord
failed, we have respected the will expressed online by applying
the choice voted second-highest by those certified: remain in
the EFDD group," Grillo said. EFDD leader Nigel Farage of
Britain's UKIP party has set conditions on the M5S staying
including pushing for a referendum on the euro and suspending
the MEP who negotiated the deal with ALDE. In other remarks,
Grillo said the euro should be "put to a popular referendum so
that citizens decide whether Italy stays in the Eurozone or
not". Grillo wrote a list of "battles we've fought and will
continue to fight". Included among these, he said: "Russia is an
economic partner and an ally against terrorism, not an enemy.
M5S has fought and will fight for the immediate removal of
sanctions on Russia".
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