David Sassoli leads the centre-left coalition in the general elections. Only 13 months ago it was a concrete hypothesis, then it turned out to be “a dream for many of us, because he’s gone”.
On the stage of the Quirino theater in Rome, Enrico Letta is moved, struggling to hold back the tears, as he reveals for the first time a political background, which for many in the audience immediately turns into a regret. «It was December 16, 2021, just before David left Brussels so as not to return – says the secretary of the Democratic Party, “for a few more days” – we had an appointment and I proposed to lead us to the elections, to build a broad coalition, telling me ready to take a step back.
Qatargate, Von der Leyen in Rome: “Sassoli would never have tolerated corruption”
Sassoli had asked to think about it and the two had spoken again on the phone a few days later, for Christmas greetings, agreeing to “talk about it concretely” in a new meeting. There was no time, given that the President of the European Parliament he was hospitalized and then died on January 11, 2022.
But that opportunity “could have changed our history,” says Letta, in front of ministers Raffale Fitto and Antonio Tajani, seated in the front row. “Sassoli gave his soul for Europe, we defended the European institutions together, I am grateful to him for that”, says the deputy premier and head of the Farnesina, who came to participate in the presentation of the book Wisdom and audacity, just published by Feltrinelli, which collects 56 speeches by Sassoli, on Europe and beyond. After all, “politicians are divided into those who accompany history and those who change it – adds the dem leader – David changed history: by keeping the European Parliament open during the pandemic, he made it possible to perform that miracle represented by Next Generation Eu».
Ursula’s tribute
Sitting a few meters away, on the same stage, Ursula von der Leyen nods. The president of the European Commission came to Rome specifically for this event, taking the opportunity to have an interview with Giorgia Meloni at Palazzo Chigi and for a private chat with Romano Prodi, who was also one of the Quirino’s speakers in the morning.
He speaks in English, but affectionately greets in Italian Sassoli’s wife, Alessandra, and their children, Livia and Giulio, seated in the stalls. He remembers the former president of the European Parliament as “a passionate about Europe, a guardian of democracy, someone who did politics out of passion and not out of power”.
On a personal level, the woman who leads the European Union cannot forget “her ability to grasp the moment of change, her smile and clear eyes, when she greeted me saying in French ‘bon courage'”.
But there is an episode and a speech, among those contained in the book, that von der Leyen keeps in his heart: the one pronounced by Sassoli in Fossoli, in the summer of 2021, when together they went to visit the place that once housed a camp of Nazi concentration. “A beautiful speech, a love letter to Europe – he recalls – then, during the commemoration of the victims, David broke protocol and took my hand: a simple gesture of unity, which is worth millions of words”.
The shadows of Qatargate
And who knows what words Sassoli would have used to comment on the scandal that has engulfed the European Parliament in recent weeks. If Letta asks, defining the facts that emerged in Brussels “crap”. While von der Leyen is convinced that “David would never have tolerated corruption, neither among those who work in the Eurochamber, nor in any European institutional body – she explains – He believed in democracy, but he knew that democracy is fragile and must be protected”. To the point of putting her before any personal ambition, Prodi specified during his speech: «One of our last conversations was on the renunciation of the hypothesis of his re-election as leader of the Parliament – recalls the former president of the Council and of the European Commission – he had absolute respect for the balance of democracy».
According to Prodi, a forewarning of what was about to happen in Ukraine was Russia’s decision to declare Sassoli “persona non grata”, for his constant calls for respect for human rights. “Just thinking of defining David in that way makes me die laughing – jokes the professor – but it was an alarm on the decay of politics”.
Now, to give new impetus to Europe in the footsteps of Sassoli, we need “a step forward by a core of strong countries, at least in terms of common foreign and defense policy – warns Prodi – we need to proceed at two speeds, as was done with the euro, otherwise the EU is a stationary body, which is not in equilibrium. Then we need a modification of the Treaties, because with the unanimity rule we cannot go ahead, it transforms every dwarf into a giant».