European Commission President Says Italians Too Corrupt

Rome 14 June, 2018 – Blueprint for Free Speech Staff. Drawing immediate return fire, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Italians, whose country is caught in a vortex of instability and political volatility, need to be less corrupt, work harder and stop blaming the European Union for problems in the country’s poorer southern region.

European Parliament President Antoni Tajani of Italy demanded a retraction, said Agence France Presse, tweeting the comments would be unacceptable if accurately reported.

A European Commission spokeswoman said that “the words attributed to President Juncker on Italy have been taken out of context” and said it referred to the absorption of EU funds in southern Italy “so that people can feel the results faster on the ground,” adding “the EU will continue to engage with Italy to ensure that help arrives where it is needed most.”
Juncker said only a few sentences about Italy during a question-and-answer session at a conference on the future of Europe in Brussels.
Asked what Europe could do to help young people in regions like the south of Italy, Juncker, who is from Luxembourg, said he was “in deep love” with the country but added: “I no longer accept that everything which is going wrong in South of Italy … is explained by the fact that the EU or the European Commission would not do enough.”

“Italians have to take care of the poor regions of Italy. That means more work, less corruption, seriousness,” he said, according to the report.

He urged Italy not to “play this game” of holding the EU responsible, adding: “Nations first, Europe second.”

Far-right leader Matteo Salvini, whose League party formed a populist coalition with the Five Star Movement after months of political wrangling, was harsher in response, calling what Juncker said “shameful and racist,” according to Italian media.

In Transparency International’s annual surveys, Italy has consistently been regarded as one of the most corrupt countries in the Eurozone, ranking 54th in 2017 among 180 countries surveyed.