Mr Renzi, who was the leader of the Democratic Party in Italy, has urged voters to elect his party who want to rebuild Europe, to keep the populist Five Star Movement and the Northern League parties out of power.
Speaking on the Italian news channel ‘Askanews’, Mr Renzi said: “The alternative is clear: on the one hand there is the Democratic Party who wants to rebuild Europe, on the other hand there are parties that see Europe as a threat and they which to leave.
In a desperate plea for Italy to avoid going down the far-right route, Mr Renzi said: “In 2018 the election result will decide whether Italy will continue to be a key element of the European development, or whether it will choose a different path, the one with the European allies of Beppe Grillo and Matteo Salvini.
“They have names and surnames even if they have disappeared from the political debate: they are called Marine Le Pen, Farage, Alternative fuer Deutscheland, they are called Wilders, they have names and surnames, they are not holograms, they exist.”
In 2015, the rightwing Northern League made significant electoral gains in central and left-leaning parts of Italy.
These results were thought to be a consequence of growing opposition to the EU and concern over the thousands of migrants landing on Italy’s shores each week.
The far-right party in Italy, the Northern League, has renewed its pledge to rectify the error of the single currency Euro.
Italy is the eurozone’s third-largest economy, behind Germany and France, meaning a vote could tear the entire currency union apart
Allied with France’s National Front in the European Parliament, the Northern League blames the euro of rising poverty in the bloc claiming it only favours economic powerhouse Germany.
In November, thousands of protesters took to the streets in Roma to demand Italy leaves the EU immediately.
Renzi stepped down as prime minister after voters rejected his landmark constitutional reform in December last year, and was replaced by current leader Paolo Gentiloni.
The country’s controversial ex-leader Silvio Berlusconi has made a comeback for the election after resigning in 2011 whilst on several trials for fraud, corruption and allegedly having sex with an underage prostitute.
Italians will go to the polls on March 4.
Additional reporting by Maria Ortega