EU Smacks Down German Official Over ‘Lecture’ to Italian Voters
- Italy’s fate is in hands of people, not markets, Juncker says
- Oettinger had indicated markets could be a ‘signal to voters’
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The European Union’s top two officials made dramatic interventions in the Italian political crisis as they distanced themselves from Germany’s EU commissioner over comments indicating he was telling Italians how to vote.
Amid surging bond yields across the euro area triggered by Italy’s political crisis, European Budget Commissioner Guenther Oettinger told Deutsche Welle that he expected financial markets to become so volatile they teach voters to turn their backs on non-mainstream parties, according to video excerpts of the interview the broadcaster posted in a tweet. Oettinger later apologized for the remarks.