Mattarella: ‘Many of you vote, the EU needs courageous reforms’ – News

“History does not wait for the long times of Europe”. Sergio Mattarella continues his tireless work of international persuasion in favor of strengthening European institutions considered slow and ineffective to counter the challenges of a frenetic and increasingly conflictual world. Today he did it from Brdo, near Ljubljana, where Slovenia convened a summit with neighboring countries to celebrate the choice to enter the European Union – 20 years ago now.

Reforms and enlargement of the Union is the mantra of the President of the Republic who today also listed what in his opinion are the most urgent reforms to be adopted. All this after the European elections in June, of course. It has been clear for months that Europe is in a pre-election stalemate phase and therefore the head of state underlined the need to give a signal of “desire for Europe” by showing up in large numbers at the polls: “About 400 million citizens they will go to the vote and it will be a great exercise in democracy: I hope for great participation so that citizens become protagonists of their future. Then it will be the institutions’ task to ensure that the Union becomes a protagonist on the international scene – we can remain. he added speaking from Brdo Castle – in a condition in which Europe is only a spectator even of events that are negative for the Union itself. This is a season that requires the courage of incisive and courageous reforms”. Clear words which, however, clashed dramatically with those of the President of Hungary, Tamas Sulyok, who right next to him reiterated the sovereignist position of the Orban government: “we are against the growth of federalist tendencies in the EU. This more tightening that is imposed on us – he said – will lead to a weaker Europe. Hungary does not want to cede sovereignty and believes in a community of independent states”.

A position that is certainly isolated in Europe and which Mattarella refuted with an opposite analysis: “some countries find themselves on the border of the unacceptable Russian aggression: their situation would be very different if they were not today within the borders of the Union. History always presents the cost of lost opportunities and then it is the people who pay a high price. This reflection calls for the urgency of completing the European project which is now more essential than ever.”

Even if the differences that are blocking the Union re-emerge in this Slovenian mini-summit, the president continues: among the essential reforms that await there are certainly “the methods of decision-making, because the problems in this world arise quickly and require answers timely responses. The European Union – Mattarella recalled – is not in this condition, it is not in a position to take timely responses because problems do not wait”. In addition to greater competitiveness of Europe, the head of state also clearly asked the birth of a true European Defense. But above all he raised an alarm: without reforms the financial system remains “crippled and cannot hold up for long: if it collapses it could overwhelm the other systems too”.

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