Antonio Tajani is angry with “
French-style
” secularism, and he prefers to make it known in the language of Molière.
The Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs returned at length to the controversy concerning the “disappearance” of the Invalides cross, on the official poster of the Olympic Games, during the Congress of the European People's Party (EPP), in Bucharest, this Thursday March 7 .
“
It was not a good idea to erase the Invalides cross.
It is not a good idea to erase our history and our identity, to send a message to others ,
”
continues the head of the Italian EPP delegation, in French, in an accent tinged with rolled “r”s.
It must be said that the designer of the said poster, the Parisian Ugo Gattoni, is himself of Italian origin.
What annoys even more the current secretary of the Forza Italia party - founded by Silvio Berlusconi.
“
No Muslim, no Jew would have erased his history
”
, continues the Italian elected official, to the loud applause of his audience.
“
If we do not respect ourselves, others will never respect Europeans.
This is not secularism, it is stupidity
!
»
, then says the man who is also vice-president of the Italian council in the right-wing government of Giorgia Meloni.
Read alsoOfficial poster for the 2024 Olympics: “France as a giant amusement park stripped of all history”
“I hope they will change things in France”
“
I believe in secularism
: it is not erasing history, it is not erasing identity (…).
I hope they will change things in France (…).It is not a photo
(a drawing, Editor’s note)
that changes the history of France and Europe ,
”
insisted Antonio Tajani, recalling the Christian Democratic roots of his own party.
Her outburst of anger was very appreciated in the ranks of the French delegation of the EPP, which opposes a new candidacy of Ursula von der Leyen at the head of the European Commission.
“
Why not Tajani instead
?
»
, even slipped a member of the LR after the speech of the current number 2 of the Italian government and former president of the European Parliament.
“
Thank you, dear Antonio Tajani, for these strong words for France
: our country and Europe will not be respected if they do not respect their own history, and what they are based on ,
”
reacted on X (formerly Twitter ) François-Xavier Bellamy, head of the LR list in the Europeans.