On a per capita basis, it is false.
But we aren’t talking per capita, are we? We are talking public debt. Italy’s mouth is writing checks its butt can’t cash. When Italy wants to cut its government spending in order to stand on its own two feet, so to speak, get back to me. But I won’t hold my breath while I wait. In the meantime, the EU has Italy by Italy’s short hairs. And Italy has only itself to blame.