Switzerland continues to file bills for the Crans-Montana injuries.
The Federal Social Insurance Office (FSIO), in an official statement, states that "the provisions on international mutual assistance in the provision of benefits also apply to the victims of the fire."
Doris Bianchi, director of the same office, recently reiterated this to the cameras of RSI, the Swiss-Italian television network, and reported by Italian newspapers. "I'm sorry for the invoices mistakenly sent to Italian families, but European agreements must be respected," she said during a meeting with the Italian ambassador to Bern, Gian Lorenzo Cornado . "I expect the Italian Ministry of Health to pay the expenses of children admitted to Swiss hospitals." And "your Ministry of Health to send the hospitalization expenses of Swiss patients to Italy."
Ambassador Cornado's response was immediate : "If these are the agreements, then Italy will not avail itself of them: we will not bill the expenses of the two Swiss boys hospitalized by us, and we expect Bern to do the same."
In its discussions with Bern, Rome emphasizes both the "moral responsibility" of local authorities in the New Year's Eve fire and the assistance provided by Italy on the same occasion: from the Civil Protection team sent to the scene to care for the injured, to the admission of Swiss patients to the Niguarda Hospital in Milan. For all this, which is worth far more than the €108,000 in medical expenses requested by Switzerland from Italy, "we have asked for nothing. We demand reciprocity," Cornado says.
(Unioneonline)