European Interest

European Greens: Oettinger must get out of the way

Flickr/EPP Group in the CoR/CC BY 2.0
EU commissioner, Günther Oettinger made remarks on Tuesday in an interview with German media Deutsche Welle implying that financial markets would dictate how Italians should vote.

EU commissioner, Günther Oettinger made remarks on Tuesday in an interview with German media Deutsche Welle implying that financial markets would dictate how Italians should vote.

Responding to the remarks,Ju released the following statement:

“The incendiary remarks of Commissioner Oettinger about what he deems a need for the Italian electorate to take lessons from the financial markets have been fanning the flames of populism. This is deeply worrisome and has a catastrophic impact on the credibility of the EU Commission. Oettinger has been doing a major disservice to the Union. That cannot be accepted. This is why we are calling upon Commission President Juncker to ditch Oettinger. Juncker has criticised Oettinger and distanced himself from Oettinger´s remarks. But this is too weak a signal to be heard under the turbulent noise of protest. Europe has to fight an immeasurably important battle to convince Italian citizens of not abandoning the Union as populists are tempting them to do. Oettinger stands in the way of the battle. He has been inconsiderately loquacious one time too many.”

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