Italy’s Future – The beginning of the election campaign, not without its surprises, attracted the interest of the foreign press, which dedicated a great deal of space to Italy’s political and economic future (December 4, Financial Times – Italy after Monti). The main international papers concentrated first of all on the resignation of Prime Minister Mario Monti (between December 8 and 12 in the Wall Street Journal – Ciao, Monti; La Vanguardia – La espiral italiana; Publico – Saga italiana. Câmara obscura ;* Le Figaro – Monti- Berlusconi, l’expert et le politique; * Le Monde – La leçon de tactique du « Professore »; Time – What Mario Monti’s Exit Tells Us About Europe’s Debt Crisis; Handelsblatt – Moody’s sieht kaum Auswirkungen). They also turned their attention on the possible candidacy of the former European Commissioner after the endorsement of the European People’s Party (December 13 and 14 in the Wall Street Journal – Brussels (Hearts) Monti; The Economist – Italian politics and Europe: The Silvio and Mario show; La Nacion – Los líderes europeos le dan su respaldo a Monti; Les Echos – La pression monte pour une candidature Monti; El Pais – La derecha europea apadrina a Monti; Sueddeutsche Zeitung – Huldigung für den Überraschungsgast).
Draghi, Person of the Year – Brtain’s economic daily, the Financial Times, has named Mario Draghi, “the Italian determined to save the euro”, the man of 2012 ” (December 13, Mario Draghi, Person of The Year). The paper of the City ran a lengthy profile of the President of the European Central Bank, complete with videos and an interview.
“Steady Hand” – Other reports on Italy’s elections included interviews by Pier Luigi Bersani on the reforms carried out and on Monti’s plans. The foreign press underlined Bersani’s commitment to continue Monti’s firm approach (December 10-14 in the Wall Street Journal – Italy Front-Runner Vows Steady Hand; Die Welt – Er schwört auf Reformen; Valor Economico – Favorito na Itália, Bersani promete manter ajuste fiscal*).
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