"I receive many attacks from PD, Leu and above all Cinque Stelle which, exploiting a tragedy
such as that of the killing of the Saudi journalist Khashoggi, invite me to clarify my participation in the 'Neo-Renaissance' event in Riyadh".
Matteo Renzi his enews writes it, responding to the controversy.
To those who ask him if he carries out "conference-style activities or participation in advisory boards or cultural activities or teaching positions at universities outside Italy", Renzi replies that "yes" he does, that "they are required by law" and that he receives " a fee on which I pay my taxes in Italy. My tax return is public. Everything is perfectly legal and legitimate ", he explains.
Then, speaking of the Vision2030 program, Renzi explains that "respecting human rights is a need that must be upheld in Saudi Arabia as in China, as in Russia, as in the whole Middle East, as in Turkey. But who knows the point from which the Saudi regime started knowing full well that Vision 2030 is the most important opportunity to develop innovation and to broaden rights ".
Regarding the Khashoggi affair, he continues, "I condemned that tragic event three years ago - and I did it also in interviews"
and "in all the newspapers of the world. Defending journalists in danger of life is a duty for everyone. I have always done it, even when I was alone, as in the European Council of 2015, for the arrested Turkish journalists. Defending the freedom of journalists is a duty, everywhere, from Saudi Arabia to Iran, from Russia to Turkey, from Venezuela to Cuba, to China ".
"Yes. Not only is it right, but it is also necessary. Saudi Arabia is a bulwark against Islamic extremism and has been one of the West's main allies for decades.
Even in these hours - marked by the harsh controversy over the Khashoggi affair - President Biden reaffirmed the need for this friendship in a phone call to King Salman
. But Biden rightly asked for more to be done. Especially on the issue of respecting journalists, "added Renzi.
