M5S, Conte: no to weapons and rearmament. And he reiterates the shift towards negotiations on Ukraine: ‘The Europeans will support us’

“It seems to me that a clear and precise mandate is emerging: we must build paths to peace; war gets us nowhere. Weapons drive peace away.” These were the words of M5S leader Giuseppe Conte from the stage at Nova (the participatory process to propose a programme for the centre-left alliance). “We need to invest where the needs of citizens, families and businesses truly lie; no to a war economy, no to rearmament,” he added. ‘At a time of great suffering for the country, we have laid the foundations to build, together, projects of hope – nurseries and schools – and to strengthen research, universities and innovation, rather than war projects and arsenals full of weapons.’

“When it comes to building paths towards peace and true security – that is, cooperative security, not that based on military deterrence – we will never be alone,” the M5S leader reiterated. “The entire European population is behind us, and I am sure they will support us. And in any case, if Italia takes the lead and plays a central role in this shift, we will inspire others, because when you have courage and a clear vision, you know how to inspire others”, not least because “we have seen the military gamble play out for four and a half years. Today, we need someone with the determination to bring added value to this shift towards negotiation”.

Should the centre-left win, Conte sets out the agenda of priorities: “The first Council of Ministers meeting must have a very straightforward focus: to repeal the justice and security measures that stifle political dissent.”

The M5S leader offered a thought for Alessandro Di Battista, following his health problems: ‘Since we’re talking about a community, let me send a big hug to a comrade in this community: Alessandro Di Battista, known to us as Dibba. We’re with you, Ale. Come back to us – we still have so many battles to fight together. Don’t be long.”

“Thank you for having undertaken this journey; it was a collective effort involving 17,000 participants, 2,000 working groups and 105 meeting points, which served as forums for dialogue and democracy. I would like to emphasise that it was not just party members who took part; almost half were non-members, and we thank them too,” Conte emphasised once again, adding: “This is a community that has grown, and from which a clear message emerges: you want to decide, and reading the proposals, you want to change and finally transform this country.”