On Sunday, voters in Austria and Italy headed to the polls — in the first instance to choose a president, and in the second to vote on a referendum proposal for a strategic overhaul and reforms of the Italian government. And as diverse as the countries are, so too were the outcomes.

In Austria, voters were asked to choose between Alexander Van Der Bellen, who had pledged to protect his nation’s place in the European Union, and right-wing leader Norbert Hofer, who ran on a tough anti-immigration, anti-Brussels platform.

Despite the rise of right-wing sentiment that has been spawned by the greatest influx of refugees into Europe since the end of the Second World War, Austrian voters backed Van Der Bellen.

It’s a badly needed boost for liberalism on the continent, one that has seen nationalist parties in France, The Netherlands, Germany, the United Kingdom, Poland and Hungary all gaining at the polls.

The Austrians sent a message to Brussels that there is indeed still life in the project for a strong and united Europe.

But as well as the threat from the ultra-nationalist and populist forces on right, perhaps the greatest threat to that project comes from the economy as a whole, and the euro specifically.

In Italy, the message from voters was that they want no part in the governmental reforms proposed by Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. He has offered his resignation after his proposal to rein in the power of the senate was rejected.

Significantly, the events in Italy have triggered financial concern, with the euro dropping to a 20-month low at levels not seen since the height of the Greek debt crisis.

Brussels, its financiers and its bankers should indeed be worried. Italy is Europe’s fourth-largest economy but is critically ill. Its annual growth hovers at the 1 per cent level; its output is sill 9 per cent less that when the financial crisis hit almost a decade ago, and its debt-to-GDP ratio is at a barely sustainable 130 per cent.

More than 11 per cent of Italians are out of work, more than one-in-three bank loans is dodgy, and youth unemployment is chronically high.

While the Greek debt problem is well publicised and seems to be stuck in interminable talks between Brussels, the International Monetary Fund and Athens, the impact of Italy’s failure to accept reform could be brutal and swift.

The next few weeks will be critical.