Italian election result cheers Greek opposition

(Vatican Radio) Greece’s opposition parties have taken heart from the result of Italy’s elections, which they say shows that a eurozone country can defy the German insistence on continued austerity.

The leftwing Syriza party, which is running neck and neck in the opinion polls with the pro-European coalition under prime minister Antonis Samaras, was cheered by signs that southern European voters, when pressed enough, could resist the Eurocrats.

The smaller anti-austerity parties on the right, such as Independent Greeks and the far-right Golden Dawn, also approved the sight of Italy’s voters starting to roll back domination from Germany and Brussels.

The re-emergence of Silvio Berlusconi on an anti-austerity ticket is not very good news for Samaras, who faithfully executes Brussels and IMF dictates, and so far has seen himself the Greek equivalent of Mario Monti, the big loser in the Italian election.

The Greek media, of course, concentrated on the unexpected success of the comedian Beppe Grillo, with plenty of hints that such a figure could well emerge here in Greece if the economy gets much worse. The nearest equivalent in fact, is the young and charismatic leader of the Syriza party, Alexis Tsipras, who has the rare advantage of a sense of humour – unlike the grey and self-important politicians who head the other parties.

In fact, many Greek voters applaud the fact that their brethren across the Adriatic have taken what they see as the bold and long-awaited step of holding up a hand to northern Europe and saying “Basta!” – that’s enough. Listen to John Carr's report: