Fabio Castaldo during a plenary session | European Parliament Leading 5Star MEP vows to protect UK from Brexit ‘punishment’ Italian MEP Fabio Castaldo is confident his party will succeed in a new election.

Italy's 5Star Movement is confident it will triumph in a new election, form a government and then fight to protect the U.K. from "any kind of punishment" from the EU related to Brexit, according to 5Star MEP Fabio Castaldo.

“We will come back stronger in the next elections, form a government and start our fight for the EU reforms that are needed for our citizens,” said Castaldo, a vice president in the European Parliament, in an interview with the Telegraph Monday, adding that he believes Brexit is “a matter of respect for democracy."

“We will try to do our best to bring political pressure [so] that the process will be fair and there will be no attempt for any kind of punishment of the U.K. This is an attitude we will not tolerate,” Castaldo said.

The 5Stars’ attempt to form a government with the far-right League failed on Sunday as President Sergio Mattarella rejected their Euroskeptic pick for economy minister and their prime minister-designate therefore rescinded his mandate to form a government.

The country now faces the prospect of a new election, either later this year if Mattarella's choice to try to form a technocratic government, Carlo Cottarelli, fails to win a vote of confidence in parliament, or in early 2019 if Cottarelli does get the required support.

Castaldo, a close ally of 5Star leader Luigi Di Maio, warned Brussels about meddling in Italian politics, saying "internal interference from European partners" would be considered "hostile acts.”

And while his party has previously called for a referendum on leaving the euro, Castaldo said: “We consider the idea of a referendum as the equivalent of a nuclear weapon. We know that it exists as a possibility, but it is not our intention to use that.”