BERLIN – Formally an invitation to Sergio Mattarella he came from the Volksbund, from the association that handles the Day of Mourning.
A memorial born during the Weimar Republic to commemorate the fallen of the Great War that extended after 1945 to the victims of Nazism and the Second World War. But the push to invite the Italian president on the 80th anniversary of the end of the war actually started with Frank-Walter Steinmeierwith whom he now has an ancient and happy relationship. In the Bundestag, Germany’s head of state as usual read a secular prayer for victims who deserved attention, and for the first time he addressed the prayer to those killed because of their gender identity and to police officers killed in the line of duty.
Mattarella: “Too many Doctor Strangeloves love bombs. Aggressive war is evil”
by our correspondent Concetto Vecchio
Mattarella also exchanged words with the chancellor yesterday morning Friedrich Merz before laying a wreath and holding a bilateral meeting with the President of the Bundestag, Julia Kloeckner.
In the perception of the country’s highest officials, the Italian president now represents – even more so after his extraordinary speech in the Bundestag – “the patron deity of Europe at a time of great turmoil and attacks on democracy”, reported a source present at the meeting.
The talking points – the need to strengthen ties between Rome and Berlin and to strengthen European defense and security – allowed the opposing sides to express their appreciation also to Italy, which until recently was considered a solid partner. Even on public accounts. And that’s no small compliment, in a country that is embracing austerity.
