Europe is being taken over by populist leaders who resemble “little Mussolinis”, a senior EU figure said on Thursday, prompting fury from Italy.

Pierre Moscovici, European Economic Affairs Commissioner from France, likened the current political climate to the rise of Fascism and Nazism and said he was concerned about the rise of populist parties in the lead-up to European Parliament elections next year.

“There’s a climate very similar to that of the 1930s,” he told a press conference in Paris.

“Certainly we should not exaggerate, clearly there’s not Hitler, maybe little Mussolinis (instead).”

Italy’s coalition government reacted with anger to the remarks, with Luigi Di Maio, deputy prime minister, calling them totally unacceptable.

"The attitude from some European commissioners is unacceptable, really intolerable. “They dare to say that in Italy there are many little Mussolinis, and that should not be permitted,” Mr Di Maio, the head of the anti-establishment Five Star Movement, said.