As Italy enters a period of political turbulence and the market has shown signs of tremendous uncertainty in Southern Europe, the White House told Newsmax on Wednesday it was monitoring the Italian situation.
"Italy is one of our closest allies," White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told us, "and we look forward to continuing to working closely with the new government after it's formed."
Sanders' response came as Italian President Sergio Mattarella rejected the choice for prime minister of the Five-Star Movement and the Northern League — the two top vote-getters in recent parliamentary elections, both of whom are hostile to the European Union and the Euro currency.
Mattarella refused to tap the choice of Prime Minister-designate Giuseppe Conte, the favorite of the Five-Star and the Northern League, because of his insistence on arch-Euroskeptic Paolo Salvona as finance minister.
The president Tuesday turned to former International Monetary Fund official Carlo Cottarelli to form a technocratic government. Within 24 hours, however, Cottarelli was suggesting Italy would be better off with a prime minister who was a politician and favored by the two major parties.
Further failure to agree on a prime minister will almost surely result in another national election soon.
Results in all this political infighting were alarming. There was a spike in Italian bond yields Tuesday and drops in the Euro and stocks worldwide. By Wednesday, the economic uncertainty stablilized.
The president's top spokeswoman made it clear the U.S. would not interfere in any political or economic developments in Italy.
"We recognize that Europe is composed of free nations, and in the tradition of western democracy, they are able to choose their own paths forward," Sanders said.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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