Voting explanations have begun in the Chamber of Deputies on the motions concerning the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. The government deferred to the House on the motions relating to the crisis in Ukraine presented by Italia viva and Action and on that of the Democratic Party. A favorable opinion was expressed on the majority document, while the opinion on the documents presented by the 5 Star Movement and by the Alleanza Verdi e Sinistra (AVS) was against. The opinion was given to the Montecitorio Assembly by Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs Giorgio Silli.
The content of the motion
The center-right motion on the conflict between Russia and Ukraine now being examined by the Chamber continues to commit the Government “to support the regulatory initiatives necessary to extend until 31 December 2023 the authorization, subject to the Chamber’s guidelines, for the transfer of assets , military materials and equipment to the government authorities of Ukraine in the terms and in the manner established by article 2-bis of the decree-law of 25 February 2022, n. 14”. The government withdrew the amendment to the NATO-Calabria decree which proposed the same thing with a view to issuing an ad hoc decree.
The text also commits the government “to promote and support, in agreement with NATO and European partners, all diplomatic initiatives aimed at creating the conditions for peace negotiations, a just and sustainable peace, based on respect for the rules of international law , of sovereignty and territorial integrity and of the principle of self-determination of peoples”; “to promote the revitalization of the United Nations as an international instrument for ensuring peaceful coexistence”; «to take all the necessary initiatives, on the basis of what has been agreed within NATO and the European Union, to continue to support the Ukrainian people and to limit the effects of the humanitarian crisis underway, above all to protect minors and the most fragile, promoting rehabilitation of the infrastructure necessary to ensure essential services”.
The position of the 5 Star Movement. Conte: “Parliament decides on sending new weapons”
«The decree on sending arms to Ukraine cannot be routine. A new intervention framework can no longer be postponed. We demand a passage to the parliamentary halls, so that citizens’ right to transparent information is guaranteed”. Giuseppe Conte (M5S) said it in his explanation of vote on the motions on Ukraine. “If the government wants to advocate a warmongering line” weapons to the bitter end and zero negotiations “come to the Chamber to say it, to put your face in front of the Italians and to get Parliament to vote”, he added. «May Italy play a leading role in the Ukrainian crisis by promoting a peace conference. We cannot continue to think of an illusory defeat of Russia”.
The Third Pole: “The government expresses a line”
«It is useful and right to discuss what is happening in Ukraine, it is a fact that will determine the future of our planet. An iron curtain is being built which will not be easy to dismantle afterwards. there can be no doubts about responsibilities, it is a war of aggression which defends no one, it is a military operation and a special operation”. This was stated by Ettore Rosato, president of Italia Viva, in the Chamber during the explanations of vote on the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. “They are bombing not strategic targets but apartment buildings and schools to break the Ukrainian people. Should we stop sending weapons? I asked myself a question several times: does it seem to us that Putin is looking for peace? I think no. How can one think that the annexation of a Ukrainian territory as big as Italy can configure a peace agreement? History has shown us that giving in to dictators and violent people does not help peace. We must be aware and whoever says it must be aware that stopping sending weapons to Ukraine does not end the war but ends Ukraine», adds Rosato. “The government has decided to defer to the Chamber on our motions: I appeal to the government to express the country’s line in this Parliament”. «The motion of the Democratic Party can be shared like ours, the motion of the M5s does not say what the Five Stars say. There is a need to keep the country united on this particular issue. The government should make an effort to pay attention to this step”.
The position of AVS, Fratoianni: “Rhetoric weapons until peace is unfounded”
«The rhetoric of arms up to the conquest of peace is rhetoric as well as being unfounded. Today we need a change of pace. You looked for Putin’s friends among the pacifists when it was clear where to find them, partly with you in this government. Putin is a man of the right, a nationalist of the right, you have to look for his friends on the right, that’s where they’ve always been. A ceasefire is the only thing, the rhetoric of the war of values, which has sacrificed Europeanism in the name of Atlanticism”. So Nicola Fratoianni, of the Verdi Sinistra alliance, speaking in the chamber for the explanations of vote on the motions on the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. «For these reasons we say that a change of pace is needed, the need for verification, for a political initiative to build peace. Not at all indifferent, not at all equidistant, let us say peace, above all in the name of the attacked and the victims,” he added.
Forza Italia: “We’ve had enough of war, but we’re not abandoning Kiev”
«We at Forza Italia will not let our conscience wear us down. What do you believe? We too have had enough of the illogicality of this war.’ This was declared by Giorgio Mulè, vice president of the Chamber and deputy of Forza Italia speaking in the Chamber of Montecitorio during the general discussion on the motions relating to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The blue deputy went on to explain that: «We scream like everyone else is enough and for this reason we strongly ask that the pressure from the United Nations to the European Union continue unceasingly to find the way to peace. In the meantime, however, we do not want to surrender to the logic of accepting submission and closing ourselves in those caves which are the Kiev metro stations». Mulè went on to explain how «if we did it it would be equivalent to leaving that martyred people to their fate, it would mean assuming the shame of turning one’s back on civilization; it would be like denying our roots and our values». The vice president of the Chamber concluded by explaining that “history would not forgive us and we would be sentenced to life imprisonment of cowardice and being chased by the crying of that child who from the cave in Kiev begs not to be left alone”.
Della Vedova: “+Europe votes yes to the motions”
“More Europe will vote in favor of the motions that commit our country to continue military support to Ukraine”. This was announced by the secretary of +Europa, Benedetto Della Vedova, speaking in the Chamber on the motions on the war in Ukraine. “I hope everyone agrees that there is only one person responsible for this brutality, that there is only one person responsible for the destruction of civilian infrastructure, for the destruction of the Ukrainian electricity grid, for the fact that in Kiev, in winter, there is electricity for only three hours and – Della Vedova continued – that there is only one person responsible for the humanitarian disaster, for the civilian and military lives destroyed by this senseless, unreasonable and unmotivated war: Vladimir Putin. The real issue that divides us – underlined the secretary of +Europe – is military support for Ukraine. And this is the real theme of the discussion of today’s motions: for +Europe, Italy must continue in the wake of what the Draghi government has done with great seriousness to assist, even in defensive terms, by sending defense instruments, the Ukrainian people. After so many months – added Della Vedova – it would be a surrender to Putin to stop the effort of military aid to Kiev: this is what Putin expects, because he is betting on the fatigue of European and Western parliaments and public opinion. The answer we must give – concluded Della Vedova – is the continuation of the commitment until we can arrive, through the strengthening of the Ukrainian defense, to create the conditions for a real negotiation, which cannot be the surrender of Ukraine”. .