Standing ovation and long applause for the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella at the XIV Conference of Ambassadors and Ambassadors of Italy in the world at the Farnesina. After the thanks given by Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio to the President of the Republic, the diplomats present stood up and paid their tribute to Mattarella before he spoke for his speech. “The last time I speak to the ambassadors,” admitted Serio Mattarella himself, who has been involved in farewells with the various institutions in recent weeks. At the Farnesina, the Head of State recalled Ambassador Luca Attanasio, who “placed Italy at the service of humanity” before speaking of international equilibrium: “The political center of gravity seems to move from the Atlantic to the Pacific, Europe and Africa will have to question their future: we must not resign ourselves to the fact that the new century is marked by the marginalization of the European Union ”. We need a strong “European integration”, however, which allows “decisions to be made in order to have choices of effective sovereignty”.
Cohesion is the key word, as the fight against Covid has also taught: “it remains a priority among liberal democracies and constitutes the nucleus around which to strengthen a broad and close connection between the countries with a democratic order” of the European Union. “The defense of liberal-democratic values and the rule of law within our continent and outside it, starting with that cardinal principle of the European construction represented by the primacy of Community law, is essential in this sense. These are values - the Head of State remarked – which must nevertheless be practiced and lived, both through the strengthening of the irreversibly democratic character of European citizenship, and in the management of the crises facing Europe. The attitude of “fortress Europe” which, with little respect for human rights, some show, does not correspond to the ambitions of this European Union ».
Then Mattarella underlined how it is “our interest promote multilateralism effective on many issues, from migration to the digital revolution, all issues that if faced alone would condemn us to irrelevance “. Bipolarism is now “over”. The Head of State spoke of reforms, increasingly necessary “including those on budgetary rules”, and the development of defense as an “essential element”. Welfare is to be “reviewed in the light of the ecological and digital transition”.
Vatican, Mattarella by the Pope for his final farewell as President
Di Maio’s point between Covid and foreign policy
Italy has focused “from the beginning on solidarity and international cooperation” to defeat Covid. Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio at the Conference of Ambassadors and Ambassadors recalled the Italian example of the pandemic and, at the same time, charted the way forward in order not to fall into a serious emergency even in the near future: “we supported the ACT-Accelerator and the Covax Facility with over 385 million euros and committed to donating 45 million doses by 2021, with particular attention to the Middle East and North Africa, the Sahel, the Horn of Africa, the Balkans and South East Asia. Now, fill the gap with the most vulnerable countries, vaccinating at least 70% of the world population by the end of 2022, as foreseen by the Rome Declaration of the G20, must remain an imperative for the international community ”.
Italian diplomacy has played “and must continue to play” a leading role in favor of relaunching the country in the post-pandemic, added the foreign minister, underlining the boom dell’export: “Following the transfer of competences in the field of trade and internationalization, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has rethought and intensified the export support strategy, to support the Italian economic fabric in the midst of the pandemic and lay the foundations for a robust recovery . The Pact for Export, with an allocation of over 5.7 billion euros, is at the heart of this strategy ». The data of Italian exports in 2021, with 423 billion euros in the first ten months of the year, represents “a record that even exceeds the boom year, 2019, which recorded 402 billion euros in export volume in the same period . We have therefore decided to make the measures we have adopted structural, maintaining an integrated approach to promoting Italy in the world, which combines the economic dimension, culture and language, innovation and research ». In the budget law, for the next five years, up to 2026, an allocation of 1.5 billion per year is foreseen on a revolving basis and 150 million euro as a grant.
Di Maio then added, in his speech, thanks for the Head of State Sergio Mattarella: «I want to express my heartfelt thanks to President Sergio Mattarella for his extraordinary contribution to our foreign policy action. From the important visits he made abroad to the numerous Heads of State he welcomed in Rome: every meeting and contact he made has given prestige, prestige and authority to Italy – underlined Di Maio – Thank you, on behalf of the Farnesina and my personal, for this invaluable support ».
Di Maio then took stock of foreign policy, confirming his commitment to Afghanistan. The return of the Taliban to power in Afghanistan and the chaos that accompanied the Western withdrawal have left “a wound on which the West is called to carry out careful reflection”. Di Maio recalled that Italy rescued 5,000 people from Afghanistan and praised the Italian diplomats who “distinguished themselves in courage and professionalism” during the evacuation operations. Italy’s goal, added the minister, is now “to continue humanitarian assistance, avoid economic collapse and preserve the results achieved in the field of rights in twenty years of work”. Italy believes “in the centrality of the person and his fundamental rights, a cornerstone of our foreign policy action”. An example of this is «the constant action we carry out in order to obtain truth and justice on the barbaric killing of Giulio Regeni“. But also «the discreet but determined commitment that we have put in place on the caso Zaki, obtaining a first result with his release, testifying to the importance of the presence of the Italian diplomatic corps in Cairo at the highest level ». In conclusion Di Maio warned about Libya: “It is even more urgent to continue to strongly call the Libyan actors to a constructive commitment to define as soon as possible a clear horizon for the electoral process, which must be free, fair, inclusive and credible”. At the Conference of Ambassadors, he also recalled that “despite our incessant work together with international partners, the prospects remain uncertain, such as the question of the electoral deadline set for 24 December”, and there are “growing tensions on the ground”, which distance “the withdrawal of foreign mercenaries and fighters ».
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