President Zelensky,
President Casellati,
President Fico,
dear Ambassador of Ukraine,
Senators and Senators,
Deputies and Deputies,
On behalf of the Government and myself, I want to thank President Zelensky for his extraordinary testimony.
Since the beginning of the war, Italy has admired the courage, determination, patriotism of President Zelensky and the citizens of Ukraine. Your people have become your army, she said.
The arrogance of the Russian government clashed with the dignity of the Ukrainian people, who managed to curb Moscow’s expansionist aims and impose enormous costs on the invading army.
The resistance of Mariupol, Kharkiv, Odessa – and of all the places where the ferocity of President Putin falls – is heroic.
Today Ukraine is not only defending itself.
It defends our peace, our freedom, our security
It defends that multilateral order based on rules and rights that we have painstakingly built up since the postwar period.
Italy is deeply grateful to you.
The solidarity shown by the Italians towards the Ukrainian people is enormous.
I am thinking of the health, food, and all kinds of aid that our fellow citizens immediately sent to Ukraine.
And I am thinking of welcoming refugees – over 60,000 since the start of the war, most of them women and minors.
The Italians have thrown open the doors of their homes and schools to Ukrainian refugees, with that sense of welcome that is our country’s pride.
We will continue to do so, thanks to the incessant work and the great professionalism of the Regions, the Municipalities, the Civil Protection, the religious bodies, all the volunteers.
Because in the face of civilization, Italy does not intend to turn the other way.
The government and parliament are at the forefront of supporting Ukraine.
Right from the start, we offered financial and humanitarian aid and, together with our European partners, we responded to the Ukrainian government’s requests for assistance in defending itself from the Russian invasion.
We are ready to do even more.
We have activated special corridors for orphaned minors and we are particularly committed to the transfer of fragile and sick people.
I want to thank Parliament again – the majority and the main opposition party – for approving these measures with unity and conviction.
In the decree approved on Friday, we then allocated new funds to finance the welcoming effort for Ukrainian citizens.
We want to help refugees not only to have a home, but also to find a job and integrate into our society.
As did the 236,000 Ukrainians who already live in Italy, to whom all my closeness goes once again.
The sanctions that we have agreed together with our European and G7 partners are aimed at inducing the Russian government to cease hostilities and to sit down seriously, above all sincerely, at the negotiating table.
Faced with Russia that wanted us divided, we showed ourselves united – as the European Union and as an Atlantic Alliance.
So far, these sanctions have hit Russia’s economy and financial markets hard, and the personal fortunes of those closest to President Putin.
In Italy we have frozen assets of over eight hundred million euros to the oligarchs affected by the measures of the European Union.
We are also committed to diversifying our sources of energy supply, so as to overcome our dependence on Russia very quickly.
At the same time, we want to draw a path of greater closeness of Ukraine to Europe.
In recent weeks it has been underlined that the process of joining the European Union is long, made up of reforms necessary to ensure a functioning integration.
I want to tell President Zelensky that Italy is alongside Ukraine in this process.
Italy wants Ukraine to join the European Union.
When horror and violence seem to have the upper hand, it is precisely then that we must defend human and civil rights, democratic values.
To those fleeing the war, we must offer hospitality.
In the face of the massacres, we must respond with aid, including military aid, to the resistance.
To the growing isolation of President Putin, we must oppose the unity of the international community.
Ukraine has the right to be safe, free, democratic.
Italy – the Government, the Parliament, and all citizens – are with you, President Zelensky.
Thanks.
