In Italy, general elections to parliament took place, and in Germany, finally, the current coalition. Both of these stories have led me to very sad thoughts, says Ivanov's correspondent Ivan Yakovina.

In Italy, the winners were populists - the extreme right of the "League" and the extreme left of the "Five Star". The traditional left failed miserably. The traditional right-wing Silvio Berlusconi also acted so-so.

Thus, Italy continued the pan-European trend towards the erosion of the political center. Radicals are rushing to power across the continent. In Italy, "Five Stars" promise to prick up bankers and politicians, introduce Internet democracy and generally abandon the government in its current form.

Right "League" intends to strengthen the state and arrange a real hell for migrants, after a massive deportation of about half a million people. They want to send back to North Africa. At the same time, both the left and the right are extremely skeptical of the EU and look favorably at Putin's Russia. They, for example, are not averse to lifting sanctions against it and restarting the construction of the South Stream gas pipeline,. Any new government in Italy will be very cool, let's say, treat Ukraine.

In Germany, a coalition government appeared that included right-centrist Angels Merkel and the left-centrist - the Social Democrats. In the short term, this is good - stability, order and all such will return to the country..

But in the long run it is very dangerous. Because of joining the coalition, the SPD was on the verge of schism - among the Social Democrats there is a real civil war. In the next elections this party will be doomed to a miserable result. And this despite the fact that more recently it was considered one of the most influential and powerful in the whole of Europe, and not only in Germany.

In addition, the official right of the main parliamentary opposition was given by the far right Alternative for Germany. Together with this status, they received a number of key places in the Bundestag, including the post of head of the budget committee. Now the German budget will be written by neo-Nazis, with which I congratulate you all.

But that is not all. Because of the reluctance of European elites to pay attention to the problems of the middle and working classes, the traditional right and traditional left-wingers fall into hell all over the continent. For them, no one votes. The high results of populists in Italy, France, Finland, Britain, the Netherlands, Greece - yes everywhere already - is not an aberration or anomaly. This is a steady trend. This is a new rule.

European elites need to urgently pretend that nothing special is happening and take on the mind.

Otherwise, I guarantee you: already in the next electoral cycle in the Old World, new Mussolini will begin to appear, which will be followed by modern publications of the Hitlerites. And blame for this will not be stupid voters, but smart ministers and deputies who care only about their sponsors from major banks and corporations, giving out simple voters to populists, nationalists and socialists of all kinds.

Over Europe, darkness is gathering. And this is very, very serious.