Ukraine, Mattarella: “The threat posed by Russia requires a renewed drive towards European cohesion”

“Today the international scene is seriously conditioned and wounded by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine which takes us back to the worst era of imperialism and nationalism and represents a profound laceration of that web of juridical rules and principles which gave substance to the system multilateral system based on international law and on equality between states. The threat posed by Russia to peace and security requires a renewed impulse of unity and cohesion on the part of all democracies, especially European ones”. The president said so Sergio Mattarella speaking from Bern.

“Since the beginning of the conflict – continued Mattarella – Switzerland and Italy have ensured maximum solidarity with the Ukrainian people, with a commitment that found significant moments in the Lugano Conference for the reconstruction of Ukraine last May and in the decision to adhere to the sanctioning measures defined at an international level. We view the approach adopted by the Confederation with profound respect, all the more so as we are aware of how it has generated a reflection and a comparison on the boundaries of the neutrality policy. Allow me to express the conviction that a effective defense of democratic values ​​and the rule of law is a responsibility that falls on all of us, the peoples of the continent.We are talking about those ‘liberties of the moderns’ rightly exalted by a great Swiss thinker, Benjamin Constant, as the essence of European civilization. Autocracies challenge the model of peaceful international coexistence and c democratic existence: this is a serious matter and we must not underestimate it. These are challenges that cannot be eased by uncertainties and divisions among free peoples”.