"I've been saying this for 20 years, admit your mistakes". Earthquake in Germany, Tremonti's anger: who got it all wrong

The AfD leaders "are politically extreme, their voters are not. Germany is going through a very serious economic crisis that does not only concern the car industry. It is the end of a model that has lasted too long: exports to China, buys low-cost gas from Russia, defense guaranteed by the Americans". This was stated in an interview with La Stampa by the president of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Chamber of Deputies Giulio Tremonti . With respect to the Grand Coalition, "a dynamic is taking place that is classic in German politics. The parties present themselves divided before the voters, then they unite: today the combination of Christian Democrats and Socialists is winning. It is an indication of positive stability for Europe, the end of the hypothesis of a total subversion. There is the possibility of giving a political response that allows us to absorb the reasons of those who have turned to the extreme forces", he explains. "I have always thought and said that Merkel was more of a follower than a leader" but "now Merkel has the opportunity to regain leadership in Europe", continues the former Finance Minister.

According to Tremonti, moreover, "there is room for an important role for Italy, it is not certain that we must return to the Franco-German duopoly". In Germany, meanwhile, "the crisis is very serious also because up to now we have seen German manufacturing excel in mechanics and chemistry, not in electronics. The cars of tomorrow are a computer with wheels, and the technology is in the hands of Americans and Chinese".

" I have been saying these things for at least twenty years," Tremonti concludes, " for others it should be time to admit their mistakes. China has its problems, but it is a competitor, not a customer. In any case: in Europe we are suffocated by an excess of rules."