As reported by the Wall Street Journal, in October Angela Merkel called the President of the Republic Giorgio Napolitano "suggesting" that he find another prime minister to replace Silvio Berlusconi, thus violating the unwritten rule that forbids an EU country to intervene in the internal politics of another member.
The American newspaper reports that Merkel told Napolitano that determined efforts to cut the deficit were welcome but that Europe wanted more aggressive reforms to boost economic growth. The German chancellor said she feared Berlusconi was not strong enough to do so.
And the WSJ always claims that Napolitano got the message and in the following days he discreetly began to poll the Italian political parties to verify their possible support for a new government if Berlusconi failed to satisfy the conditions posed by Europe and the markets. After a few days, in rapid succession Mario Monti was first appointed senator for life and then, after Berlusconi's resignation, was charged with forming his current government.
A note from the Quirinale, however, denies the reconstruction of the WSJ, stating that the phone call between the head of state and Merkel did not address issues of Italian internal politics but only the measures necessary to defend the euro. "With reference to some rumors in the international and Italian press - reads the note from Colle - it is specified that in the phone call, by no means secret, of 20 October 2011, to the President of the Republic Giorgio Napolitano, the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Angela Merkel, did not raise any question of internal Italian politics, nor did she make any request to "change the premier". The conversation concerned only the measures taken and to be taken for the reduction of the deficit, in defense of the euro and in the matter of structural reforms”.
