Just as everybody was fearing a Grexit, Frexit, Brexit, the Austrians launched a petition to quit the EU. Activists who launched the petition argue that Austria would be better off economically without the EU and is on a drive to gather 100,000 signatures by July 1 required for the national parliament to consider the initiative.

Inge Rauscher, a retired 66-year-old translator, began the drive. “We want to go back to a neutral and peace-loving Austria,” said Rauscher at the start of the campaign. Her non-partisan Heimat & Umwelt committee argues that Austria will benefit economically and environmentally from the rift. She is also critical of Austria’s forced endorsement of EU sanctions against Russia and blames Brussels for the economic downturn. She points to the loss of the country’s sovereignty with over 80% of essential legislation being dictated by Brussels, not by elected commissioners. “In our view, Europe is not a democracy,” she said.

Rauscher and her committee calculates that each household would gain 9,800 euros per annum from a rift once freed from the burdens of EU democracy. Opinion polls show that a third of Austrians are in favor of leaving the EU.

In Italy too…
Italian Eurosceptic “The Five Star Movement” (MSS) filed a new petition with 200,000 signatures calling for a referendum on Italy’s exit from the Eurozone and the monetary bloc.