Italian Ambassador calls for inspiration from Europe's Founding Fathers

Italian Ambassador calls for inspiration from Europe's Founding Fathers
Credit: Belga

The Italian Ambassador to Belgium called on Tuesday for inspiration from Europe's Founding Fathers in a speech on Italy's Republic Day.

"(Paul-Henri) Spaak and (Alcide) De Gasperi were the protagonists of an Italian-Belgian cooperation in Europe that was destined to last over the years and still today constitutes a model for the diplomacy of the two countries," said Elena Basile, the ambassador.

"As the founding countries of Europe, Italy and Belgium felt in the post-war period the same existential vocation towards the project of European integration," Basile said.

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"Accession to Europe was crucial for Italy, a country torn apart by war and having lived through the obscure parenthesis of fascism," she insisted.

Right-wing and extreme right-wing opposition parties planned to march together in Rome on Tuesday against the government's coronavirus policy. The leader of the right-wing Lega Nord party, Eurosceptic Matteo Salvini, wants to denounce the temporary amnesty granted to migrants during the health crisis.

"Belgium, a battlefield of fratricidal wars between European countries, also sees in the increasingly close union between the peoples of Europe an objective deeply linked to its national interest," she added.

Basile stressed the importance of the Italian-Belgian partnership. "In addition to trade (€33 billion in 2019), the dissemination of 'Made in Italy' and cooperation in many sectors, the presence of a historic Italian community is the basis of the fraternity between the two peoples and the growing affinity between the two countries."

The Brussels Times


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