Italian Politician: Italy Should Use Its 'Enormous Debt' as a Weapon Against Germany

Beppe Grillo. (Niccolo Caranti / CC BY-SA 2.0)

Beppe Grillo, the comedian-turned-populist-leader of Italy’s second largest political party, has called for the nationalization of Italian banks and an exit from the euro, and said the country should prepare to use its “enormous debt” as a weapon against Germany.

Comparing German conduct in the Greek bailout negotiations with “explicit Nazism,” Grillo outlined in a blog post Thursday a “Plan B” for Italy, which he said needs to heed the lessons of Greece in order to be ready “when the debtors come around.”

The Guardian reports:

His plan called for Italy to adopt a clear anti-euro stance and to shake off its belief that – if forced to accept tough austerity – other “peripheral” countries would come to its aid.

Grillo said Italy had to use its enormous €2tn (£1.4bn) debt as leverage against Germany, implying that the potential global damage of an Italian default would stop Germany from “interfering” with Italy’s “legitimate right” to convert its debt into another currency.

He said Greece’s hand had been forced by the threat of bankruptcy to its banks, and that Italy therefore needed to nationalise its banks and shift to another currency.