The eighth speech by the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella to the Italians lasted 16 minutes.
"A year ago, addressing you on this occasion, I defined the previous seven years as demanding and complex. The past year was also so, so full of important political and institutional events", Mattarella says, starting his message at the end year to the Italians.
The president recalls "the election of the President of the Republic, with the choice of Parliament and the delegates of the Regions which, unexpectedly for me, commits me to a second mandate", and "the early dissolution of the Chambers and the political elections, held, for the first time, in the autumn".
THE GOVERNMENT
"The clear electoral result allowed the rapid birth of
the new government, led, for the first time, by a woman. This is a novelty of great social and cultural significance
, which has been mature in our country for some time, today come true".
This was stated by the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella in his year-end message, which is broadcast to unified networks.
"The concreteness of reality has summoned everyone to responsibility. It urges everyone to apply themselves to the urgency of problems that await answers. Our democracy has once again proved to be a mature democracy, complete, also for this experience, acquired by all, to represent and govern a great country".
This was stated by the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella in his end-of-year message to Italians.
THE WAR
"We are waiting to welcome the new year but even in these hours our thoughts cannot distract us from the war that is bloodying our continent. 2022 was the year of the mad war unleashed by the Russian Federation. The response of the Italy, Europe and the West has been a full support to the attacked country and to the Ukrainian people, who are courageously defending their freedom and rights", says Mattarella.
"If this was the year of war, we must concentrate our efforts so that 2023 is the year of the end of hostilities, of the silence of arms, of the cessation of this inhuman trail of blood, of deaths, of suffering", continues the head of state.
"Peace is a founding part of European identity and, since the beginning of the conflict, Europe has been looking for openings to achieve it in justice and freedom. Pope Francis constantly exhorts peace".
"One feels deep sadness for the many human lives lost and because, every day, houses, hospitals, schools, theaters are destroyed, transforming cities and towns into a pile of ruins. Immense quantities of financial resources are burned for armaments which, if destined for world hunger, the fight against disease or poverty, they would be a relief for humanity", observes Mattarella.
"Of these further serious damages, the responsibility lies entirely with those who attacked and not with those who defend themselves or those who help them defend themselves", remarked the president.
IRAN
"Hope for peace is also founded on the rejection of a vision that makes history go back, of an obscurantism out of time and out of reason. It is based above all on the strength of freedom. On the will to affirm the civilization of rights. Something that is rooted in the hearts of women and men. Even stronger in the new generations".
The President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, says so in his end-of-year message.
"The young women of Iran testify to this with their courage. The Afghan women who fight for their freedom. Those Russian boys who defy repression to say no to war".
COVID
"From Covid - unfortunately not yet definitively defeated - we have learned lessons not to be forgotten", Mattarella says again in his end-of-year message.
"We have understood - he adds - that science, civil institutions, concrete solidarity are precious resources of a community, and the more effective they are the more they are able to integrate, to support each other. The more they produce trust and responsibility in people" .
"It is necessary to work so that the irreplaceable garrison of unity of the country represented by the National Health Service is strengthened, increasingly placing the person and his concrete needs at the centre, in the territory in which he lives", underlines the President.
WORK AND INEQUALITIES
I know well how many Italians face these months with great worries.
Inflation, energy costs, the difficulties of many families and businesses, the increase in poverty and need.
The lack of work takes away rights and dignity: the price we pay for unemployment and precariousness is still too high", declares Mattarella. "The condition of many children in difficulty is especially alarming.
Child poverty has quadrupled since the beginning of the 2008 global crisis.
"The differences linked to social, economic, organizational and health factors between the various territories of our country - between the North and the South, for the smaller islands, for the inland areas - create injustices, harm the right to equality".
"The Constitution still guides us, where it prescribes that the Republic must remove the economic and social obstacles that harm people's rights, their full realization. Without distinction", continues Mattarella.
"Removing obstacles - adds the head of state - is a shared commitment, which requires unity of purpose, cohesion, moral strength".
THE TAX
"The Republic is in the civic sense of those who pay taxes because this serves to make Italy work and therefore to the common good", reiterates the head of state.
THE CRISIS
Our ability to react to the crisis generated by the pandemic is demonstrated by the significant economic growth that occurred in 2021 and 2022", says Mattarella. "Our companies, at every level - he adds -, have been able, as soon as possible, to restart with enthusiasm: they had the strength to react and, often, to renew themselves.
Exports of our products have held up and even increased".
"Italy has returned in a very short time to being a destination for thousands of people from all over the world. The beauty of our places and our nature has once again exercised a formidable attractiveness".
"There are concrete reasons that nourish our hope but we need a look at the horizon, a vision of the future", continues the president.
"We must stay in our time, not in the past, with intelligence and passion", added the head of state.
"Let's think of the new technologies, the extraordinary results of scientific research, medicine, the new frontiers of space, submarine exploration. Scenarios unthinkable until a few years ago and now before us. Global challenges, always. Because it is modernity, with its continuous change, to be global".
"Thinking of rejecting change, of giving up modernity is not only a mistake: it is also an illusion. Change must be guided, innovation must be interpreted to improve our living conditions, but it cannot be removed. The challenge, rather, it is planning for tomorrow with courage", Mattarella underlines again.
THE COUNTRY'S INTERNATIONAL POSITIONING
"Italy's strategic choices are clear and they are "Europe, the West, our alliances.
Our primary responsibility in the area we define as the enlarged Mediterranean.
Our privileged relationship with Africa", says Mattarella.
THE ENVIRONMENT
"Securing the planet, and therefore the future of humanity, means tackling the energy transition concretely. Energy is what allows our societies to live and progress. The complex work required to switch from sources traditional, polluting and harmful energies to renewable energies, represents the new frontier of our economic systems. It is no coincidence that on these issues, and in particular for the affirmation of a new ecological culture, we see the mobilization of many young people", he reiterates the president of the republic.
THE SCHOOL
"The third major investment in the future is that of school, university, scientific research. It is there that we train the protagonists of tomorrow's world. There that we train the girls and boys who will have to deal with the complexity of those phenomena that will require adequate skills, which we are not always able to guarantee today", says Mattarella.
THE PNRR
"The National Recovery and Resilience Plan pushes Italy towards" the goal of training boys and girls to face the complexities of global phenomena.
"We cannot afford to miss this opportunity. We owe it to our young people and their future", underlines the Head of State.
YOUNG PEOPLE
Speaking of young people I would like - for a moment - to address them directly: we are all affected by the tragedy of the many deaths on the roads.
Too many kids lose their lives at night in car accidents, due to speed, lightness, consumption of alcohol or drugs.
When you drive, your life and the lives of others are in your hands.
Don't destroy it for a moment of imprudence.
Don't cancel your future."
THE FUTURE
"Dear fellow citizens, let's look to tomorrow with a new gaze. Let's look to tomorrow with the eyes of young people. Let's look at their faces, let's gather their hope. Let's make them our own", is Mattarella's invitation.
"Let's ensure that the future of the younger generations is not only what remains of the present but is the result of an exercise of conscience on our part. Avoiding the pretension of choosing for them, of influencing their path. The Republic thrives on everyone's participation This is the meaning of the freedom guaranteed by our democracy. Above all, this is the reason why we have faith. Best wishes", concludes President Mattarella.
