Italians vote in a crucial election next Sunday.

Before we think we know everything about our neighbor, given our proximity and our familiarity with the country, we must analyse the main issues.

Certainly, Italy is Europe's sick man. Its growth has stalled. Vast areas, especially the Mezzogiorno (the South) are passing through tough times with skyhigh unemployment, lack of investment and an accumulation of problems which have not been solved for many years.

To this cauldron have been added further problems, notably immigration. Italy has been taking in the bulk of persons rescued from the sea who are left to their own devices especially after the northern neighbours, especially France, closed their frontiers and sent back those who slipped under the net.

It may be a generic statement but it would seem that the Italians are now up in arms against this situation and will express their anger in Sunday's polls.

All polls say the centre-left coalition which produced first Matteo Renzi and later Paolo Gentiloni but which is riddled with internecine feuds and allegations of scandals. These past years have seen a timid return to growth but it may have come too little and too late to satisfy the needs of the population.

It looks like the two Opposition groupings stand to gain from the government's loss: Cinque Stelle and the group headed by a resurrected Silvio Berlusconi plus Lega Nord and Fratelli d'Italia headed by firebrand Giorgia Meloni.

The prevalent view is that since Cinque Stelle look as if they will not get a majority and since they reject joining any other party, and also since the Berlusconi group are ahead in the polls, the latter will get to form the next government.

All these predictions of course must be confirmed by the results.

The results of Sunday's election will of course have a bearing on Italo-Maltese relations, even though the relations between the two neighbouring states will always be one of friendly and almost family relations.

It is in Europe's interest that Italy recovers from the economic stagnation of the past years.

We Maltese may think that a stricter policy regarding migrants may not be in Malta's favour, given some declarations over the past days by Italian politicians especially Berlusconi. But one has to have experienced the cumulative impact of massive migration on so many Italian communities to understand the anger that is fuelling xenophobic parties. There is however the real fear that more and more migrants may find it easy to travel to Malta and so export here the problem that Italy is facing. The Maltese authorities especially the political parties have long been deaf to calls to tackle this problem in a holistic manner.

The Maltese, who follow Italian sports, cultural events, Italy as a tourist venue, with passion, will follow Sunday's election with more than casual interest.