“Investing in reconstruction and betting on victory” – Corriere.it

When Giorgia Meloni he has finished speaking, of imagining a «Ukraine rebuilt» whose schools, bell towers and hospitals will once again be “a piece of the foundation of the whole of Europe”, the president Zelensky asks the technicians to restore the video connection. “Mine is not a new intervention – the leader of the Ukrainian resistance takes a few more seconds – I just want to thank dear Giorgia, thank you Italy and good work”.

The last words Zelensky he pronounces them in our language. Meloni says thank you in Ukrainian then switches to English: «I hope you will come to Italy in person as soon as possible». Until Zelensky, who in his speech had reaffirmed the belief that his country will win the war against Russia, concludes the exchange of courtesies with the prime minister with the hope that Before 2025, Rome will host the new, major international conference on the reconstruction of Ukraine that Giorgia Meloni had announced shortly before. At the EUR congress building, in front of the heads of 600 Italian and 150 Ukrainian companies, the prime minister invites us to “look beyond the enemy, beyond the invasion, beyond the injustice” of Putin’s devastating war. She encourages you to imagine the future, one “possible and inevitable reconstruction” that the citizens of an invaded and tortured country have shown to the world, with the choice to fight and with their example of resistance: «Money, architects, engineers, it serves the nostalgia of freedom and one’s own future that the Ukrainian people have been able to demonstrate so well”. Closing the reconstruction conference organized by the Farnesina, Meloni thanks Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and shows that he really believes in it. He spurs Italian companies not to be afraid to take risks, encourages them to look beyond this dramatic year: «Investing today in reconstruction and betting on Ukraine’s victory is not a gamble but a far-sighted investment in peace and economic growth in Ukraine, of Italy and Europe”.

No one like the Italians has shown that they know how to turn crises into opportunities, continues the premier and praises the Ukrainians for the “extraordinary strength” with which they have shown every day “love of country and freedom”. Italy has been at Kiev’s side since the first day of the war and will continue to do so. “We will strongly support Ukraine’s right to be part of the European family – Meloni promises – The Ukrainians also defend our freedom with their lives. Our task is to help Ukraine write this new chapter in its history. Italy has what it takes to play as a protagonist, there are no other options». And here the premier announces that in 2024, when Italy will be president of the G7Rome will organize an international conference on reconstruction “much bigger than this”.