Italy and other struggling eurozone nations will be forced to leave the euro unless the European Central Bank (ECB) guarantees their debts, former Italian premier and conservative leader Silvio Berlusconi said Friday.
The ECB should "guarantee the sovereign debts of all eurozone countries" so that all members of the currency bloc would pay the same interest rates on their debt, Berlusconi said at a rally ahead of February 24-25 elections.
"If this were not to happen, if Germany were to oppose it ... there will only be one solution, which is not what we want: the exit of these countries from the euro. They tell me I am anti-European, but I am only a realist," Berlusconi said.
The 76-year-old media mogul, who has already served three times as prime minister, is trailing in the polls but is catching up on the front-running centre-left coalition. In case of victory, he said he would not lead the government again, but would become economy minister.