European leaders have "concerns" about Italy's future alliances and economic policies of under a populist, eurosceptic government between the Five-Star Movement and the League party, premier Paolo Gentiloni said Thursday at an EU summit in Bulgaria.
"The worry is not about the political stripes of the government," Gentiloni told reporters at the EU-Western Balkans summit in Sofia.
"The concern is that key alliances, the management of public accounts and migration policy could be thrown in to doubt," Gentiloni stated.
Italy is a founder member of the European project, the third largest economy in the eurozone, a key supporter of the transatlantic alliance and a key United States ally.
"Many European leaders are worried about three main topics: firstly the approach to the major international alliances which European countries have always shared, irrespective of their governments' political hue," Gentiloni said.
"The second area of concern is the risks linked to deficit financing and the third is the danger that the results of what are seen to be highly successful policies such as those on migration could be under threat."
Five-Star and League leaders Luigi Di Maio and Matteo Salvini were meeting on Thursday to discuss key sections of the 40-page blueprint for coalition government hammered out between the two sides in over a week of negotiations.
Di Maio and Salvini are reviewing sections of their 'government contract' on the EU, deficit spending, a flat tax and immigration, a Five Star official said. They will also discuss the premiership and ministers’ jobs, the official added.
The blueprint has dropped a request for a 250-billion-euro write-off from the European Central Bank and pledges tax cuts, pension reform and a review of EU treaties. Di Maio and Salvini have said they will report back by Monday to Italy's president Sergio Mattarella on their progress in forming a government.
Italy has been in political limbo since the inconclusive 4 March national election in which populist forces made strong gains but no party or alliance won an outright parliamentary majority.
Five-Star is the biggest party in the hung parliament while the centre-right alliance led by Salvini is the largest political bloc.
Five-Star and the League have the numbers to govern but would have a relatively slender majority in the upper house Senate.
