Reuters: Italy's 5-Star leader Grillo calls for gas pipeline referendum

Beppe Grillo, leader of Italy's anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S), said on Sunday he would call for a referendum over the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project that is due to bring Azeri gas to Italy by the end of the decade.

The plan to build a pipeline from Azerbaijan to Turkey and Italy, which is heavily dependent on foreign supplies of gas, has sparked protest to which former comedian Grillo added his voice this weekend in the southern Italian region of Puglia.

"I was in Puglia yesterday, alongside its citizens, to say no to TAP," Grillo, who is known for fiery speeches, wrote on his blog, calling the project "a work of science fiction".

Grillo said M5S, which burst onto the political scene last year winning 25 percent of the vote in its first parliamentary election but saw its support drop in May's European elections, would call for a referendum.
MORE