Mattarella: 'Intolerable acts to weaken EU sovereignty'

"The European Union is a guarantee of the freedom and progress of our peoples. Narratives and acts that would like to undermine the sovereignty and freedom of the European and other peoples are intolerable": in the face of "existential challenges" to the European Union, no yielding is allowed. Sergio Mattarella is in the beating heart of the Old Continent, Brussels "the capital of Europe", on his first day of the State visit to Belgium.

What better occasion to plant - it would be better to say 'replant' given his innumerable warnings - stakes to prevent a landslide of intentions within the Union as well. There is talk of war, of aggression, of what we are seeing right now within Europe. President Sergio Mattarella flies high in his speech on the occasion of the State dinner offered by King Philip in Laken Castle. He even quotes the Nobel Peace Prize winner Henri la Fontaine who back in 1913 explained that 'war is the right that peoples have arrogated to themselves to be judges, parties and executioners in their own cause'.

He never mentions Russia, but his words are clear and perhaps go much further: "Today, the European institutions are confronted with existential challenges. The Kingdom of Belgium and the Italian Republic, strong in their values and democratic history, can support the European Union in a historical phase in which global challenges want to call into question the founding principles of our own Union and of peaceful coexistence between peoples. We cannot afford to give in," he asks shortly before raising his glass for a toast to the strength of the Union. "In these almost seventy years of life, the European Union has defended and promoted our values and the rights of our citizens, creating the largest area of democracy and social progress known to date," he repeats.

Inizia come doveva essere questa visita di Stato in Belgio, Paese fondatore come l’Italia, amico ed europeista di ferro. Quanto basta per parlare chiaro tra amici. «L’Europa è la nostra casa e Bruxelles è la capitale di tutti», premette per spiegare in sostanza come la cifra fondante sia la democrazia, la difesa dei diritti e la libera attività parlamentare che la contraddistingue nel Mondo. Sergio Mattarella si concentra su questa nuova Europa che stenta ma non si arrende, che nelle strade di Bruxelles prende corpo nei palazzi istituzionali e vita nelle energie dei giovani provenienti da ogni parte d’ Europa. «Non posso tacere di una sensazione che tutti avvertiamo giungendo a Bruxelles, sentendoci a casa in quanto capitale d’ Europa», sottolinea il presidente della Repubblica osservando l’aula del Senato belga, austera e rassicurante con le sue poltroncine di velluto rosso.

He spoke at length with the Presidents of the Senate, Vincent Blondel, and the Chamber, Peter De Roover, and recalled: 'For me, it is always particularly exciting to enter the seat of a Parliament. Firstly, because I was in the Chamber of Deputies for twenty-five years and I feel the pride of it, but above all because Parliament is the fundamental hub of democracies. And this is the absolute leading point in the life of our continent'.