Anguish and hope were the keywords of the end-of-year speech by President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, who called for a return to normalcy and economic recovery, while recalling the need to maintain precautions until "the vaccination campaign has definitively defeated the pandemic".
We remain united, is the warning sent to political leaders contained in the words of Mattarella that have received the consent of the entire political arc.
Nicola Zingaretti, after the phone call made to the President of the Republic to thank him for the contents of the speech delivered to the Italians, on social media he writes: "From the President a great message that calls everyone to responsibility, a sense of community and a commitment to the Italian rebirth together with a Europe that is changing. It is time to rebuild".
Words of appreciation also come from the center right.
Silvio Berlusconi, praised the President's speech, declaring that: "Mattarella was able to express in the highest way the common feeling of Italians at the end of a difficult year. We are in perfect harmony with every word of the Head of State, who was able to grasp the suffering of many Italians, the difficulties of businesses, the anxieties of the less protected categories. I believe in particular that it is very important that the President of the Republic reiterated, on this solemn occasion, the appeal for a substantial unity of the nation and its ruling class, a unity that does not cancel the partisan distinctions but which overcomes them in the name of common responsibility towards the future of the country and towards the new generations. It is the spirit with which we have worked in these difficult months and in which we will continue to operate in 2021, which must be the year of the restart for Italy".
Giorgia Meloni who, referring to the words expressed by President Mattarella said: "President Mattarella is right, what awaits us is builders time. This is why we make our appeal to address the European recovery plan in a concrete and effective way, without wasting resources, as unfortunately has been done in recent months. We are ready to do our part and we hope that the government will also do its part: it immediately defines the plan and submits it to Parliament, the Regions and the social forces. If you are unable to remove the disturbance and let 2021 also be the year in which Italians can return to choosing a government that is up to the challenges that await us".
The Northern League leader Matteo Salvini he defined "Holy words"Those expressed by Mattarella on the time of the builders:"Holy words, the year cannot begin with a politics that wastes time talking about reshuffles, quarrels, armchairs. As fundamental and not obvious is the request for more attention and more concrete aid for the disabled, a population of 6 million Italians who have suffered more than others from Covid".
Below is the full version of the speech delivered by President Sergio Mattarella
Dear fellow citizens and fellow citizens,
approaching this traditional end-of-year appointment, I felt the difficulty of finding the right words to express an auspicious thought to each of you.
These are days in which anguish and hope coexist.
The pandemic we are facing puts our lives at risk, it hurts our way of life.
We would like to return to being immersed in reality and in experiences that are usual for us. To have hospitals not hit by the emergency. Open schools and universities, for our children and our young people. Elderly people no longer isolated by necessity and precaution. Fully functioning factories, theaters, restaurants, shops. Regular transport. Normal contacts with the countries close to us and with the most distant, with which we have built relationships over the years.
We aspire to take back our life.
The virus, unknown and unpredictable, has hit us before any other European country. The beginning of the tunnel. With the dramatic accounting of infections, deaths. Images of deserted streets and squares. The many solitudes. The heartbreaking thought of those who died without having loved ones next to them.
The arrival of summer brought with it the illusion of a narrow escape, a widespread relaxation. With the understandable desire to start living as before, to put this nightmare in parentheses.
Then, in September, the second virus offensive. First in the countries close to us, and then here, in Italy. Still infections - we are over two million - still victims, still pain that is renewed. While the generous commitment of doctors and health professionals continues.
The world has been hit hard. Everywhere.
Italy also paid a very high price.
Turning to you, I start from here: from the need to give memory together of what we have experienced in this year. Without closing your eyes to reality.
The pandemic has carved deep furrows in our lives, in our society. It has sharpened the fragility of the past. It has aggravated old inequalities and spawned new ones.
All this has had serious social and economic consequences. We have lost jobs. Women and young people were particularly penalized. People with disabilities are. Many companies fear for their future. A large segment of self-employed and precarious workers have seen their income drop to zero or abruptly drop. In the common difficulty some sectors have suffered more than others.
The pandemic has sown a sense of bewilderment: it questions life prospects. Just think of the forecast of a further decline in births, a sign of the uncertainty that the virus has crept into our community.
This is the reality, which must be recognized and faced.
At the same time, important signs have emerged that encourage concrete hope. So that fear does not prevail and so that worries can be transformed into the energy necessary to rebuild, to restart.
In the first phase, when there were still few tools available to combat the virus, the reaction to the pandemic was based above all on the sense of community.
We are now implementing more complex strategies, starting with the vaccination plan, which began on the same day across Europe.
Furthermore, innovative and extraordinarily important European interventions are in place to tackle the serious economic consequences.
Never has a vaccine been made in such a short time.
The European Union has never taken on such an important task for its citizens.
For the vaccine, also with the contribution of Italian researchers, a global science and research alliance was formed, supported by massive political and financial support that has multiplied the speed of identification.
Science offers us the strongest weapon, prevailing over ignorance and prejudice. Now everyone and everywhere, without distinction, must be allowed to be vaccinated for free: because it is right and because it is necessary for common safety.
Getting vaccinated is a choice of responsibility, a duty. All the more so for those who work in contact with the sick and the most fragile people.
Faced with such a highly contagious disease, which causes so many deaths, it is necessary to protect one's health and it is necessary to protect that of others, family, friends, colleagues.
I will vaccinate as soon as possible, after the categories which, being at higher risk, must take precedence.
The vaccine and the initiatives of the European Union are two decisive vectors of our rebirth.
The European Union has been able to take a leap forward. The Europe of common values and citizens prevailed. It was not taken for granted.
To the financial crisis of a decade ago, Europe responded without solidarity and without a clear vision of its future. Selfish interests prevailed. Old political and economic canons showed all their inadequacy.
Now the choices of the European Union rest on new foundations. Italy has been a protagonist in this change.
We are about to undertake a great task - in terms of health and economics. All this calls and urges even more the responsibility of the institutions above all, of the economic forces, of the social bodies, of each one of us. Seriousness, collaboration, and even a sense of duty are necessary to protect us and to restart.
The European plan for recovery, and its national variation - which must be concrete, effective, rigorous, without wasting resources - can allow us to overcome structural weaknesses that have prevented Italy from growing as it could have.
Let's change what needs to be changed, bravely putting ourselves back on the line.
We owe it to ourselves, we owe it to the younger generations.
Everyone does their part.
The pandemic has made us rediscover and understand how connected we are to others; how much each of us depends on others. As we have seen, solidarity has once again shown itself to be the necessary basis for coexistence and society.
International solidarity. Solidarity in Europe. Solidarity within our communities.
2021 must be the year of the defeat of the virus and the first of the recovery. A year in which each of us is also called to the commitment to repay what has been received with free gestures, often from strangers. From people who have put their very life on the line for ours, as has happened with so many doctors and health workers.
We found ourselves in the concrete gestures of many. They manifested a fraternity that is nourished not by words but by humanity, which is independent of the origin of each of us, of each person's culture and of their social condition.
It is the authentic spirit of the Republic.
The trust we need is built like this: by connecting the responsibilities of institutions with people's feelings.
The pandemic has accentuated the limits and delays of our country. There were certainly also errors in dealing with a sudden and unknown reality.
Could we have done more and better? Probably yes, as always. But we should not ignore the positive things that have been achieved and have allowed the country to stay on thanks to the commitment deployed by many parties. Among these, the Armed Forces and the Police Forces whom I thank.
We had the ability to react.
The company had to slow down but it didn't stop.
We are not at the mercy of events.
Now we have to prepare for the future.
We do not live in a parenthesis of history. This is builders time. The next few months represent a decisive step to exit the emergency and to lay the foundations for a new season.
No distractions are allowed. There is no time to waste. Energy and opportunities should not be wasted in pursuing illusory partisan advantages. This is what citizens expect.
The challenge facing those who hold managerial roles in various fields, and in front of all of us, recalls the moral and civil unity of Italians. It is not a question of nullifying the diversity of ideas, roles, interests but of realizing that underlying convergence that has allowed our country to overcome historical moments of great, sometimes dramatic, difficulty.
Italy has what it takes to succeed in this enterprise.
In recent months I have received certificates of appreciation and trust in our country from many Heads of State of friendly countries.
At a time when, on a global level, the agenda of priorities is being rewritten, development strategies are being modified and new leaderships are emerging, we must act as protagonists in the international community.
In this perspective, the G20, which Italy is presiding over for the first time, will be very important next year: a precious opportunity to face the great global challenges and an opportunity to strengthen the prestige of our country.
The opening year offers several important anniversaries.
Stages of our history, anniversaries that tell the journey that has led us to a unity that is not only of territory. We will remember the seventh centenary of Dante's death.
We will then celebrate the XNUMXth anniversary of the Unification of Italy, the centenary of the placement of the Unknown Soldier at the Altare della Patria.
And again the seventy-five years of the Republic.
From the Risorgimento to the Liberation: the roots of our Constitution. Memory and awareness of our national identity help us to build the future.
I express my thanks to Pope Francis for his teaching and for the affection he transmits to the Italian people, making himself a witness of hope and justice. To him I extend my most sincere wishes for the year that begins.
Congratulations and best wishes to the people of Gorizia for the designation of Gorizia and Nova Gorica, jointly, as European Capital of Culture for 2025. This is a signal that honors Italy and Slovenia for having developed relations that go beyond coexistence and mutual respect. and they express collaboration and prospects for a common future. I hope that this message will be picked up in the border areas of many parts of the world, including Europe, where there are often bitter clashes and sometimes wars rather than the search for an encounter between different cultures and traditions.
Finally, I would like to acknowledge to all of you - with particularly intense thanks - for the sacrifices made in recent months with a sense of responsibility. And I would like to emphasize the importance of maintaining the recommended precautions until the vaccination campaign has definitively defeated the pandemic.
Dear fellow citizens and fellow citizens, what begins will be my last year as President of the Republic.
It will coincide with the first year to be dedicated to the recovery of the economic and social life of our country.
The restart will be at the center of this last part of my mandate.
It will be a year of intense work.
We have the resources to do it.