In an outcome which stunned Brussels, the anti-establishment Five Star Movement led by Luigi Di Maio, gained more than 31 per cent of the vote, while anti-immigration Matteo Salvini’s Lega came out as a winner of the centre-right wing coalition gathering more than 17 per cent.
Both parties, which constantly attack the bloc, represent a threat to the EU, as the policies they promised during the heated electoral campaign could destabilise the eurozone and even trigger an Italexit.
Italian political commentator Ferdinando Giugliano described the result as an anti-establishment triumph.
He said: “This was an anti-establishment triumph, of the same league as the Brexit or the Trump upsets, in the eurozone’s third largest country.
This was an anti-establishment triumph, of the same league as the Brexit or the Trump upsets
“The EU now has a massive issue at its Southern border.
“Whatever the government, there will be calls for higher spending/lower taxes, which will be impossible to reconcile with the euro zone fiscal rules.”
Indeed, Five Star Movement’s political leader Luigi Di Maio already called for a “season of debate on what’s not working” with the EU.
Mr Di Maio called EU treaties “unfair” in the way they impact Italian businesses and industries, and he threatened to cut the country’s budget contributions to the EU.
Speaking exclusively with Express.co.uk Mr Di Maio said: “We want to be listened to otherwise all those sectors and industries that are suffering from injustice because of European treaties and directive will have to be reimbursed.
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Both Five Star Movement and Lega represent a threat to the EU
“We’ll start reimbursing them by cutting part of our contribution to the EU.
“But I hope I won’t have to go that far.”
In its party’s manifesto, Five Star pledges to “promote an alliance with all the Union’s southern states to put an end to austerity and reform the EU”.
The anti-establishment movement shares its views with Lega on both immigration and scepticism towards the eurozone.
Mr Salvini told Italian daily newspaper Republic that “Europe has been mocking Italy for years” and has lamented that the EU left a too hefty burden on Rome’s shoulders with its immigration policies.
He said: “The EU has to help us providing money and men to defend our borders.
“If Brussels won’t, we will do it by ourselves spending the five billion we currently use to maintain 178,000 asylum seekers.”
The two forces, which together hold 50 per cent of the votes, could decide to form a government alliance, seriously threatening the survival of the EU, as a populist government could lead Italy outside the bloc and reignite questions about the viability of the single European currency.
Such a scenario has already been welcomed by former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, who called these elections “the most important thing happening politically in the world right now”.
He said: “I believe it would be fantastic if all the populist parties were able to come together in a coalition, they would pierce through Brussels’ heart and scare the EU to death.”
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Mr Di Maio called EU treaties “unfair” in the way they impact Italian businesses and industries
In a shocking prediction made last week, Andrew Marr called a potential victory of Five Star “a bigger blow than Brexit”.
Although both Mr Salvini and Mr Di Maio changed their minds on an immediate return to Italian old currency Lira, an harder take against EU’s financial predicament could still destabilise the eurozone.
Miles Eakers, chief market analyst at Centtrip, said that a victory for populist parties would “weaken the euro and have a negative impact on European stocks”.
News of the populist avalanche was welcomed with mixed feelings on Twitter, where during the night started trending the hashtag “ItalyIsOver”.
Nigel Farage congratulated the strong result of the Movement, writing: “Congratulations to my colleagues in the European Parliament @Mov5Stelle for topping the poll tonight”.
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Matteo Salvini’s Lega came out as a winner of the centre-right wing coalition
A twitter user said these elections represents the end of the union.
He wrote: “The trajectory of events in Europe is manifestly in the direction of nationalist/populist movements.
“The causes thereof will not disappear; the next round of national elections in France, Germany, and Italy will move even further in that direction.
“The EU is a dead man walking.”