BELGRADE (Sputnik), Victoria Mladenovich – The federal election in Germany and Italy's parliamentary elections, both due in 2017, may bring changes to the states’ policies in the areas of economy, border control and approach to the European Union, UK independent member of the European Parliament Janice Atkinson told Sputnik Saturday.
"Italy and Germany also have a huge chance in forthcoming elections to take a significant role in shaping their countries' economies, borders and approach to the EU. For far too long the elites — the old politics — have operated consensually, ignoring the will of the people, as we have seen in the UK and US," Atkinson said.
Speaking about the European right-wing parties represented in the European Parliament’s Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF) group Atkinson stressed that "we all share the values of democracy, border control, fighting jihadism, an end to Schengen, a return to nation state sovereignty and either exiting or severely re-shaping the EU."
Germans will vote in the federal election in the fall 2017. The political landscape of Germany could change, as the support of such parties as the right-wing AfD is growing, amid a number of problems in Germany, such as the influx of refugees, including from Syria. The party supports the idea of tackling the migration processes and is supportive of settlement of the civil war.
Italy was due to hold elections in 2018, however, on December 6, Italian Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said that the country could hold snap parliamentary elections as early as February 2017, following the resignation of the country's Prime Minister Matteo Renzi amid the failure of the government-proposed constitutional referendum.
