In Gaza, there is a pervasiveness in killing, and Russia persists in its aggression against Ukraine: this represents a burden for the entire European Union, as many countries fear the possibility that Moscow might turn its attention to other European countries as well. On the day Moscow's Foreign Ministry draws up a list of "Russophobic" figures and places the Italian president at the top, Sergio Mattarella does not budge an inch in his concerns about the war that has been devastating Ukraine for over three years : "Russia's aggressive posture in Ukraine continues, distressingly. A burden," the head of state explained in a meeting with the parliamentary press, "on the prospects of the European continent and its young people. It is well known that the countries of the Union and NATO that, together with Russia, border the Baltic Sea have grave concerns, if not the conviction, that Russia, after its attack on Ukraine, is cultivating the intention of further, new aggressive initiatives, to the detriment of their security if not even of the independence of some of them.
The president's speech is long and detailed, delivered during the Fan Ceremony, a tradition of meeting with journalists dating back to 1893. But after the Russian dossier, the president delves into the heart of his thoughts and moves on to analyze the situation in the Middle East. There is no ambiguity or diplomatic caution in Mattarella's remarks on the tragedy in Gaza and, therefore, on the responsibilities of the Netanyahu government. " There has also been talk of mistakes in having fired on ambulances and killed doctors and nurses who were assisting the wounded, in having targeted and killed thirsty children queuing for water, in the killing of so many hungry people queuing for food, in the destruction of hospitals, including the killing of children hospitalized for malnutrition ," he prefaces.
Thus the conclusion: " It is difficult, in such a chain, to see an involuntary repetition of errors and not recognize a determination to kill indiscriminately. A condition emblematically depicted by the child admitted with his mother to an Italian hospital, after losing his father and nine siblings—all children—in the bombing of his home." But that's not all: "Even the incredible bombing of the Holy Family Parish in Gaza has been defined as a mistake. For centuries, from Seneca to St. Augustine, we have been reminded that 'to err is human, to persevere is diabolical.'"
In the evening, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni spoke with Netanyahu, also in forceful terms: "I insisted on the need to immediately end hostilities, given the unsustainable and unjustifiable situation in Gaza," a statement from Palazzo Chigi read. "A widespread tendency toward irreducible opposition, intolerance of opinions different from one's own, and refuge in superficial slogans and prejudices, among which the very serious resurgence of anti-Semitism, which also feeds on stupidity, is emerging," the head of state assured, likely referring to the attack on a French Jewish tourist and his six-year-old son at a service station near Milan.
While his speech began with the Russian threat, the president could not help but return to the European Union, currently grappling with negotiations on tariffs that threaten to undermine the European Commission itself. For Mattarella, there is no doubt: "Commercial cooperation brings peace and prosperity." On the contrary, "economic confrontation risks producing other, more crude and dangerous forms of confrontation."
(Unioneonline)