Suddenly, Brussels has friends in Italy again.

Not so long ago, Italian politicians from across the spectrum were falling over themselves to rain down opprobrium on the European Union and the constraints of the common currency.

The angry comedian Beppe Grillo, until recently the leader of the anti-establishment 5Star party, was calling for a referendum on Italy’s membership of the eurozone — a battle cry taken up by the xenophobic Northern League.

Three-time former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, 81, was nursing a grudge dating from the last time he left office, at the height of the euro crisis, which he characterized as a German-led coup against an independently minded Italian leader.

“You can bet that if surveys showed Italians being against the euro and the EU, some forces would not hesitate to use this weapon” — Massimo Franco, political analyst

Even Matteo Renzi, prime minister until late 2016 and leader of the normally EU-friendly Democratic Party, was beating the anti-Brussels drum. In a Facebook live chat, delivered a few weeks before he resigned, he had the EU flag stripped from his office — a move celebrated in a tweet by Florian Philippot, then the No. 2 in France’s National Front.

But as a general election approaches on March 4, Italy’s leaders have gradually softened their stance — sanding off the Euroskeptic edges from their platforms or even openly embracing the EU.

In January, Renzi organized a pro-Europe event in Milan, in which he called for “a United States of Europe” and challenged his rivals to say where they stood on the issue. Among his electoral allies is former European Commissioner Emma Bonino, head of the explicitly pro-European +Europa party.

Berlusconi is also singing a different song these days. He loves Europe, he now says. The past is the past, relations with German Chancellor Angela Merkel have always been good, and he’s proud of having her support. “Our relation has always been positive, and Signora Merkel backs our electoral campaign with determination,” he said last month during a visit to the center-right European People’s Party headquarters in Brussels.

Banned from holding public office because of a conviction for tax fraud, Berlusconi has floated the possibility of installing his loyal lieutenant Antonio Tajani, now president of the European Parliament, in his place as prime minister.

Even the 5Stars — currently the leading party in the polls — have come around. Grillo is increasingly out of the picture, having stepped back as leader and swept all traces of the party he founded from his popular blog.

As recently as last December, the party’s candidate for prime minister, 31-year-old Luigi Di Maio, had said he would vote to leave the eurozone were Italy to hold a referendum on its membership. Today, he has ditched the idea of holding a referendum. And in an interview with the French daily Le Monde last week, he even argued that the party he represents is “pro-European.”

Only the Northern League continues to rage against Brussels — but it too has dropped its calls for a referendum on the euro, reserving its broadsides mainly for the way the EU has handled migration.

What’s changed? For one, the economy is growing again — still below the eurozone average but faster than it has for nearly a decade.

With the future looking more positive, voters are less likely to want to rock the boat.

“You can bet that if surveys showed Italians being against the euro and the EU, some forces would not hesitate to use this weapon” Massimo Franco, political analyst at the daily Corriere della Sera, wrote Friday. “They don’t do it because they know that public opinion, despite being colder toward Europe compared to 10 years ago, doesn’t want to break away, fearing the negative consequences.”

In fall 2017, just 36 percent of Italians said EU membership was a good thing. That’s 21 percentage points below the European average.

Then there’s the Macron effect. Renzi repeatedly brings up the charismatic French president and his visions for the European Union in interviews. Many in the country believe the former prime minister would like to occupy the same centrist space.

As for Berlusconi, he has positioned himself as a moderating influence on his more fiery coalition allies, including the Northern League. And in any case, it would have been difficult to get back in power in the face of Berlin’s opposition.

But the ultimate reason for the turnaround in political rhetoric may be the view toward Europe among the voters they are courting.

At the start of the 1990s, Italians were among the most pro-European in the Union, with almost 80 percent in favor of the EU. But this percentage has fallen to less than 40 percent, according to research published last week by the Jacques Delors Institute.

In fall 2017, just 36 percent of Italians said EU membership was a good thing. That’s 21 percentage points below the European average. Only Cyprus and the Czech Republic were less in favor.

At the same time, however, a majority in the country is in favor of common European policies. “Italy ranks among the highest in considering that more decisions should be taken at the EU level (61 percent “agree,” ranking seventh of the EU28),” reads the Delors report.

Surveys show that migration is one of the top priorities for many in the country. But the prevalent sentiment is that the country has been “abandoned” by Europe. In this area, as in others, Italians want Brussels to do more, not less.

Unlike, say, many in the United Kingdom, “Italians seem to regret that the European Union does not act more, and more efficiently,” the report says.