Peace, the nationalist illusion, the PNRR: Mattarella warns the government to come

Working for peace and keeping the commitments made, in the pro-European and Atlanticist footsteps. When there are a few days left before the birth of the next government, Sergio Mattarella sets the stakes, the road by which the executive will have to move. Starting with the war in Ukraine, of which “Europe is a target”: “an unfortunate war”, as the President of the Republic defines it, “which the Russian Federation has unleashed by arrogating itself an unacceptable right of aggression”, polluting “every field of civil activities and relationships “. For this, “peace is urgent and necessary”.

No step backwards compared to Putin, it is not a question of peace as long as it is, this is the warning from the head of statewho, without naming her, inevitably turns to those who will be called to lead the next phase, Giorgia Meloni. “The way to build it passes through a re-establishment of the truth, of international law, of the freedom of the Ukrainian people“, says Mattarella. The occasion is the ceremony, which was held yesterday, for the delivery of the honors of the Order” Al Merito del Lavoro “to the Knights appointed on 2 June 2022. Words, those of the President of the Republic on the conflict in Ukraine , which take on an even greater weight because they arrive on the day when the Kremlin returned to bomb Kyiv, and beyond, indiscriminately hitting inhabited centers, and claiming reprisals after the attack on the bridge in Crimea.

“Europe has the duty of a unified and coherent response. It has lived up to it with economic sanctions on Russia, with support for the resistance of Ukraine and the material needs of its population”, continues Mattarella, without hiding, however. how Brussels struggles “to express a policy of solidarity and cohesion on the economic and social consequences of this war”. The reference is to the energy question and its effects. “This must be remedied”, with the same community spirit that has guided the European response to the pandemic. “We must continue with this intention even in the current crisis” and “only the European Union has the strength to do so”. It is necessary to understand “that the illusion of national responses on this ground is destined to remain so”, underlines Mattarella, in a passage that this time seems clearly aimed at the sovereignists.

Speak to them – who have stirred up the desire to re-discuss the agreements several times in the election campaign – also about the NRP: “We cannot miss this challenge. The first part of the route has been completed, we must continue respecting times and commitments. We cannot squander this opportunity for renewal and development. “It is also a question of credibility:” It also affects our role in Europe, which must be a driving force “.

In short, the path has been traced, and it is the same one in which the Draghi government has moved, even in a system of alliances and partners. In this context, the French President Emmanuel Macron will be in Italy on 23-24 October: it will also be the occasion for a lunch at the Quirinale with Mattarella, who will later accompany the French leader on a visit to the community of Sant’Egidio. In those same days the new government could be born: the intention of the President of the Republic is that, after the inauguration of the Chambers on Thursday 13 October, the consultations will proceed quickly in order to arrive as soon as possible at the executive formation. And here then, Macron’s Italian visit could also become the occasion for the first meeting with the new Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.