German opposition leader says Italy should abandon euro

The co-leader of the right-wing nationalist Alternative for Germany, the country's largest opposition party, says Italy's new government should abandon the euro currency.

Italy is struggling under heavy debt and Alexander Gauland told the dpa news agency Thursday the new government of Giuseppe Conte and his coalition partners, the euroskeptic 5-Star movement and anti-immigrant League, would be best served leaving the 19-nation eurozone.

Gauland says "the new government will certainly not contribute to the stability in Europe and in the European Union. It would be best if Italy now left the euro."

Gauland says that would be in Germany's best interest, and "would save the German taxpayers a lot of money."

The AfD is also a euroskeptic party and has been extremely critical of Germany's contribution to the Greek bailout.