'REBIRTH of nation-state' Farage BLASTS Verhofstadt as he hails Italy's stance against EU
NIGEL Farage has hailed Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte's stance against the European Union migration policy as he criticised EU heavyweight Guy Verhofstadt for failing to accept the nationalist-populist sentiment hitting many countries in the bloc.
Nigel Farage praises Italy's stance against the EU
Speaking in the European Parliament, the former Ukip leader blasted the EU bureaucrat over the inconclusive migration solutions reached in Brussels last week as Italy demanded new policies to be drafted by the bloc.
The British MEP claimed it was time the "Verhofstadts of the world" started acknowledging anti-EU sentiments are no longer just a trend around the bloc.
He said: “It’s sombre in here and that’s because you know in your heart that something fundamentally changed at the European Council last week.
“It could be summed up in a word: Italy.
“A founder member of the European Union, uncritical for decades of the process of European integration and now, as a result of the last general election, an Italian Prime Minister prepared to veto the entire proceedings unless he was given something on migration.
“But how to satisfy the Italians and to save the ever more beleaguered Mrs Merkel?
“That was the question. And traditionally, you would have looked for a European answer.
“But there wasn’t one. So you came up with a very weak formula talking on a voluntary basis about regional distribution centres.
Merkel seeks bilateral deals with Italy over migration crisis
You came up with a very weak formula talking on a voluntary basis about regional distribution centres
“The deal which everybody said would hold, of course, it had fallen to pieces within the space of a few hours.
“I have to say, what you saw was the rebirth of the nation-state.
“That is the direction. That is what Brexit, that is what Trump, that is what the Italian elections are all about.
“And I wonder whether the Verhofstadts of this world can recognise this massive shift.
“And it isn’t just a one-off. It’s a trend. People want to do things at a national level.”
EU leaders met in Brussels last week in an emergency meeting to address growing concerns about the functionality of the bloc's approach to the migrant crisis.
Current EU policy expects countries in which migrants first arrive to manage asylum requests but Italy, one of the mains arrival point in the EU, accused Brussels of abandoning the country by failing to uphold the redistribution quotas included in the Dublin III policy.
The summit eventually agreed to a set of draft proposals, including moves to set up new reception centres to process asylum claims.
The package, short on specific details, was seen by diplomats at the summit as an attempt to provide support to Angela Merkel.
The German Chancellor has faced intense criticism from within her own ruling coalition over her support for open-door border policies.