"Allow me on this last occasion when I can address your community, to express fervent wishes for Christmas, for the New Year and for the future. To all of you and your families".

The President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, in his speech at the Conference of Ambassadors and Ambassadors of Italy in the world, takes the opportunity to reaffirm once again his firm decision to leave the Quirinale at the end of the mandate and not to accept proposals for re-election.

There was great emotion when the Head of State awarded the Grand Cross of Honor of the Order of the Star of Italy in memory of Ambassador Luca Attanasio, killed in the Democratic Republic of Congo in February 2021 . The whole family was in the room: his wife Zakia Seddiki, his daughter Sofia, his father Salvatore, his sister Maria, as well as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Luigi Di Maio.

"Living in peace is the right of every person, collaboration is the tool - Mattarella said -. These values are the values of the Italian people. Thank you for the precious contribution you provide to national life. Your activity is sometimes exposed to more serious risks. Here I would like to commemorate the ambassador Luca Attanasio, killed - together with the carabiniere Vittorio Iacovacci and the driver Mustapha Milambo - in the Democratic Republic of Congo. An example of those who had put their Italian spirit at the service of cause of humanity ".

Hence his vision of the role of the European Union in the world: "The US and the EU will always find themselves side by side, and now that the United States is shifting its center of gravity towards the Pacific, an increasingly direct responsibility of Europe is imposed - he added. -. The EU is called to play a more important role in NATO's strategy. I am convinced that the EU will be effective in pursuing this goal. The pandemic has highlighted the vitality and added value of the EU, and put to common use resources and with the next generation the EU has managed to build an articulated response to the devastating effects of the pandemic ".