(ANSA) - Rome, January 9 - The anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) said Monday that its supporters had voted in favour of a proposal to leave the Euroskeptic EFDD group in the European parliament and join the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Group (ALDE). The blog of M5S leader Beppe Grillo said that 40,654 members took part in the vote, with 31,914 (78.5%) backing the proposal to join ALDE. Another 6,444 voted to stay in EFDD, which features the UK Independence Party, while 2,296 voted for the M5S's MEPs to be unaligned.

The agreement between Italy's anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) and the ALDE group in the European Parliament features a call for "reform of the eurozone," according to copies of the deal to appear on the Internet.

"ALDE and M5S share the central values of freedom, of equality, of transparency," the agreement read.

Grillo on Monday saluted former UKIP leader Nigel Farage. "Dear Nigel, our paths have taken a different route," read a message on Grillo's blog. "You obtained the victory of UKIP's main battle: the leaving of the European Union by the UK. An extraordinary result that would never have arrived without your leadership.

"The 5 Star MoVement's battle has yet to come, and to win it we evaluated to go to another political group in the European Parliament because, in this way, we think we can deal with more concentration both, you and us, the next challenges".

But Farage on Monday blasted the move.

"The 5-Star Movement have joined the EU establishment," said Farage, who is EFDD co-chair. "Beppe Grillo will now join ALDE's Eurofanatic establishment, which supports the TTIP, mass immigration and the European army but opposes direct democracy".



