EU Liberals Reject Tie-Up With Italy’s Five Star on Euro Split
- Group led by Guy Verhofstadt ends flirtation with Beppe Grillo
- Request by Grillo seen as effort for domestic political boost
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The pro-business Liberals in the European Parliament have rejected a membership request by Italy’s anti-establishment Five Star Movement because of differences over the euro.
Leadership of the Liberals in the European Union assembly opposed the tie-up at a meeting on Monday in Brussels, according to a spokesman, who said a prime obstacle was Five Star’s continued call for an Italian referendum on Europe’s single currency. Almost four-fifths of Five Star voters in an online poll called by Beppe Grillo, the party’s founder and comic-turned-politician, supported joining the Liberals, who are staunch supporters of the EU and the euro.