Members of the anti-establishment
5-Star Movement (M5S) voted overwhelmingly in favor of joining
the Euroskeptic caucus in Brussels of UK Independence Party
(UKIP) leader Nigel Farage on Thursday.
The vote was held on the blog of M5S leader Beppe Grillo.
Over 23,000 of a total 29,584 voters opted to join Europe of
Freedom and Democracy (EFD).
UKIP garnered the most votes of any party in the UK in
European elections last month.
Grillo, whose party got 21% of the Italian vote to finish
20% behind Premier Matteo Renzi's Democratic Party (PD) in the
elections, had been looking into a possible alliance with either
the Greens or UKIP.
Farage said Wednesday that he and Grillo differed only on a
few policies but shared an overall vision, and rejected out of
hand accusations that his party was racist.
Farage told ANSA last week that UKIP is "a democratic
organization...the classic liberal party of the 1800s," in which
"any form of racism, sexism or xenophobia is not tolerated".
As proof he pointed to the fact that UKIP's constituents
recently elected a Muslim businessman, an openly gay man, an
individual of Roma origins and "many women".
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