Italy, France: Paris Sparks Anxiety About Future of Southern Alliance

Emmanuel Macron's victory in the presidential election in France was welcomed in Italy as an opportunity to find a strong ally to reform the eurozone according to the interests of Mediterranean Europe. A strong Franco-Italian axis, the government in Rome hoped, would be a formidable force to pressure Germany and its northern European partners to soften the European Union's position on debt and deficit, increase public spending at the continental level, and introduce risk-sharing measures for the financial sector. But though the two countries certainly share a number of common interests, for Italy, Macron's first weeks in office have been a disappointment....