Over 70% of Italians back anti-establishment parties: EU survey

Brussels, May 23 (IANS/AKI) A total 71 percent of Italians think populist parties can bring about much-needed change and 65 percent believe they are more able than traditional parties to solve their country's problems, the latest Eurobarometer survey found on Wednesday.

A majority of Italians (55 percent) do not view grassroots, eurosceptic parties like the Five-Star Movement and the far-right League - which are poised to form a government - as a threat to democracy, the survey said.

The level of support among Italians for anti-establishment parties is far above the average figure of 53 percent in European Union states, the survey found.

Only 30 percent of Italians are satisfied with the way democracy works at EU level - well below an average 48 percent of citizens who are happy with it across the 28-member bloc, the survey showed.

The Eurobarometer findings came one year ahead of European elections. The survey was done in April and the results are based on face-to-face interviews with 27,601 people across the EU.

Eurobarometer surveys are carried out twice a year on behalf of the European Commission.

--IANS/AKI

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