The architect of Brexit warned the European Union is set to face increasing struggles as embattled Italy fights top Eurocrats to have their budget proposal accepted.
Deputy prime ministers Matteo Salvini and Luigi di Maio have refused to budge from their proposal after Economic Commissioner rejected their deficit target of 2.4 percent of their gross domestic product.
Speaking to Fox Business, Mr Farage said: “Italy is a member of the eurozone as a result of which they have been stuck inside a German-dominated currency that has done their country no good at all.
“Now they are beginning to realise that you cannot be a democratic nation and a member of the European Union. I’ve said it before, I’ll say again, it is only a matter of time before this breaks up. And the betting is it is Italy that will do it.”
Italy is considered to be a core member state of the European Union because of the prominent role it played to help create it – and is the fourth biggest economy of the bloc after Germany, the UK and France.
Mr Farage insisted Brexit is “the first brick out of the wall” of European institutions but Italy will give the bloc a hard time in the coming months.
He continued: “Italy and the European Union are on a collision course. Brexit is the first brick out of the wall, albeit we are not members of the eurozone.
“Brexit might be a problem for the unelected bureaucrats based in Brussels but Italy it’s the ultimate nightmare.”
He added: “It’s the third biggest economy within the eurozone and here you have a democratically elected Government putting forward a budget that is perfectly responsible rejected by unelected bureaucrats.”
Minister Salvini claimed he was not worried about possible sanctions the European Union may impose on Italy if a new budget plan is not presented within three weeks as requested by the Brussels bloc.
Mr Salvini argued the EU has sanctioned Italy many times in the past resulting in the “massacre” of its agriculture, fishing and commerce.
The Italian eurosceptic leader claimed Brussels is run by France and Germany as Brussels only seems to serve their best interests.
He said: “They have sanctioned us thousands of times. They have massacred our agriculture, our fishing, our commerce.
“But France and Germany haven’t respected the EU parameters for years. If there is a rule that tells you that on Wednesdays you wear white, on Wednesdays you wear white.”
Mr Salvini added: “If I wear white, and the French wear yellow, and the Germans wear blue but then they sanction me, the only idiot who respects the rules, I am then led to believe that the Franco-German European Union only serves the interests of France and Germany.
“That said, we are calm. We don’t go back.”
Brussels’ concerns surround Italy’s growing pile of public debt, which stands at 131 percent of GDP, and is second only to Greece’s in the bloc.
Valdis Dombrovskis, the European Commission vice-president responsible for the euro, said it had “no alternative” but to reject Italy’s planned fiscal stimulus.
EU officials believe the €2.3 trillion debt could act as a “contagion” across weaker Eurozone countries and could spark a new financial crisis.