foreign-ministers

"90 years ago, Ukraine was ravaged by a terrible famine caused by Stalin and the USSR [the Holodomor]. Italy remembers the millions who died, victims of genocide. Today, with the war, the spectre of those days returns. We will not abandon the Ukrainian people."

"Being Italian, being European, and being a patriot is not tied to seven generations, but to who you are. We must look at reality for what it is. I emphasise education, identity and culture because if you accept that you are European, in essence you are Italian and European not because your skin is white, yellow, red or green, but because you hold those convictions within you, because you live by those values within you, because you have that European spirit within you. Whether your parents were born in Kiev, La Paz or Dakar makes absolutely no difference."

"Le infrastrutture sono fondamentali per garantire la sicurezza, come peraltro anche la sanità, ad esempio un ospedale specializzato nelle cure agli attacchi batteriologico e chimico. Io credo che il Ponte rappresenti, quando ci sarà, punto importante nel trasporto.[...] Quindi anche per l’evacuazione, per garantire la sicurezza in caso di un attacco da sud. Perché esiste anche il fianco sud della Nato."

"We are in favour of Ukraine’s accession [to the European Union]... but we are also in favour of the accession of the Western Balkan countries that are candidates... otherwise we risk leaving peoples who nevertheless share a vision and tradition common to our own under the influence of other entities that do not share the same common ground."

"Mussolini? Until he declared war on the whole world following Hitler, until he became the architect of the racial laws, apart from the tragic affair of Matteotti, he did positive things to build infrastructure in our country, and then the land reclamation projects. From the point of view of concrete achievements, one cannot say that he achieved nothing."

"For the Italian government [led by Giorgia Meloni], there are two guiding principles when it comes to foreign policy: transatlantic relations and Europe. We are a founding member; we want to play a leading role in building a path that unites all peoples to tackle major geopolitical challenges together."

"[To the Italian ambassador to Iran] How was the bombing today?"

"[About the 2024 Russian presidential elections] [...] these elections were characterised by intense and even violent pressure. Navalny was effectively excluded from the elections through murder [...] There were no candidates opposing Putin. We saw footage of Russian soldiers entering polling stations to see how people were voting. So it does not strike me as an election that meets the standards we uphold. (18 March 2024)."

"Having a common defence does not mean turning Europe into some sort of warmongering entity: it means having a Europe that plays a leading role in politics, a bearer of peace."

"I insist on the need for a more democratic Europe [with] greater powers for the European Parliament... I say this not merely because"

"We need more Europe in the Western Balkans; this is Italy’s new strategy. Stability is crucial for maintaining peace but also for combating illegal immigration. As NATO, we must protect all the countries of the Western Balkans and Ukraine’s neighbours: it is now important to work together because unity is the most important thing and sends a clear message to Russia that we are ready to protect these countries."

"We are fighting to ensure that the right to asylum is governed by the same rules across Europe. Every state must have the same list of high-risk countries, which is not the case today. Because some countries have one list, others another."

"European consciousness is formed and passed on first and foremost in the classroom, and it is no coincidence that our young people are the most ardent supporters of Europe. I myself grew up surrounded by the example and reverence for the roots of European tradition, particularly thanks to my mother, who was a teacher of Greek and Latin. Europe is first and foremost a vision of life and of humanity. It is much more than a market or a currency [...] our civilisation has been forged through centuries of exchange, the blending of thought, the dialectic of ideas, art and science."

"I would lile to have a sort of European FBI."

"Human rights must always be respected, everywhere in the world, even in China."

"[Gaffe during a rally in Bari] We would have filled the San Paolo stadium too."

"It was a grave mistake to have killed Gaddafi. He may not have been a champion of democracy, but once he was gone, instability spread throughout North Africa."

"(About the release of Patrick Zaki) There is no bartering, there are no backroom deals. The government has managed to bring back to Italy a young researcher who risked spending a little more time in prison. We have managed to achieve this result, and I believe it is no small achievement. People can say whatever they like, but there is no bartering. We are serious people; we do not engage in such deals. (20 July 2023)."

"A country where the opposition is imprisoned is not a democratic country. I am not afraid to say it, just as the Venezuelan students who are demonstrating are not afraid."

"[Regarding the Supreme Court judge who delivered the guilty verdict against Berlusconi] The words spoken by Dr Franco make it clear that there has been a veritable judicial coup against Berlusconi and against democracy in our country. Someone at the top steered the verdict and we would like to know who [...] by striking that man, it was not only the individual and his family who were struck, but all those who had freely chosen to vote for him."

"Oggi come sono stati i bombardamenti?."

"[The issue of migration must be addressed] not through the lens of the colonisers, but through the lens of the Africans."

"The democratic political system owes its legitimacy to the capacity to guarantee and respect human rights in the best of fashions. That was the lesson of Chile. We have reappraised democracy because of what we have lived through as regards human rights. When we speak about human rights, the ethical basis of democracy is at stake."

"It was my desire to present myself and to say that among other things, being a liberal democrat, being a lawyer, being a father, being a Montenegrin, I'm also an absolute atheist. There are some atheists in this world who respect people who are true believers, who are who understand religion as the human platform for doing good towards other people."

"I was editor of the ANC women’s journal, Voice of Women, for some time and I remember that our publication was funded at some stage by SIDA. It enabled us to produce and distribute the bulletin, both internationally and internally through our underground structures."

"We needed child care facilities to be able to keep our children while we were at work. Otherwise most of us would never have had the opportunity of going to school, taking part in the process of running ANC offices or being part of the military structures."

". It was an introduction on how to take care of an infant when you do not have all the resources. I know, because immediately after that I benefited from the same experience when my daughter was born with lots of allergies. I had to get the knowledge from people who had gone through that course."

"At times it also assisted us to cater for casualties, such as unplanned pregnancies, where a young mother still wanted to pursue her schooling"

". I did a lot of work on culture and women’s issues when I was still in Lusaka, trying to establish what support we could get from the Nordic countries. We had clothes collected for cadres in the residences of ANC all across Africa. Some of the clothes also went to the soldiers in the camps. We were maintained in that way."

"Their responsibility was to take care of the children's needs with clothes. On the medical and nutrition levels, I remember that a course was put together which was tailored for those who were going to take care of our children."

"It was very important and we are appreciative of that experience. We also did a lot of work around women’s programmes."

"Far too many people forget far too quickly the lessons of life, peace, and sometimes governance of the men and women that Omar Bongo was able to give us."

"I can tell you that I feel and live fully African to my core. I am convinced of the Africanness and Africanism of the sons and daughters of Africa who have understood that we have no choice but to succeed in this wonderful adventure."

"We want to devote a lot of energy so that Africa can talk and act, while making peace and development its main concerns."

"In these fragile times, we need a judiciary that understands its pivotal role in ensuring not only that the laws are applied justly, but that democracy not only survives but thrives"

"As talks are now being revived, there are opportunities to partner not only on the development of offshore gas, but also with regard to the development of a downstream petrochemicals sector and further gas utilisation."

"Do they listen to public commentary and reflect on the implications of their decisions and how these are received by the wider society?"

"As new technologies are being embraced, gender inclusion is critical to allow women to access emerging technologies that offer platforms through which they can voice their concerns, identify their specific needs and promote access to basic services"

"Strengthening collaboration between governments, the private sector and the international community is also important to close the digital gender divide. The UN looks forward to working with IGAD and others to support a coherent regional approach allowing women to benefit from digital technologies"

"The AfCFTA is reshaping the economic development narrative in Africa and can foster gender-inclusive trade and development policies"

"Women are drivers of peace: increasing ways for them to engage through digital participation must be prioritized"

"There is in Italy a fourth Party, which may not have many voters, but which is capable of paralysing and rendering futile all our efforts, by organising the sabotage of loans and the flight of capital, price increases or scandal campaigns. Experience has convinced me that Italy cannot be governed today without attracting into the new formation of government, in one form or another, representatives of this fourth party, of the party of those who have the money and economic strength."

"When I see that while Hitler and Mussolini persecuted men because of their race, and invented the appalling anti-Jewish legislation that we know, and I see at the same time the Russians made up of 160 races seeking the fusion of these races by overcoming the differences existing between Asia and Europe, this attempt, this effort towards the unification of human consortium, let me say: this is Christian, this is eminently universalistic in the sense of Catholicism."

"Communism as implemented in the USSR is at the antipodes of Nazism: communism is imbued with Christian brotherhood and is therefore anti-racist par excellence, while Nazism and Fascism are essentially and primarily racist. Thus two irreconcilable and opposite phenomena Communism and Nazism."

"It is true that the functioning of economic democracy demands disinterestedness, just as that of political democracy supposes the virtue of character. The work of renewal will fail if in all categories, in all centres, there do not arise selfless men, ready to toil and sacrifice for the common good."

"The truth must be told whatever the cost."

"I take the floor in this world assembly and I feel that everything, except your personal courtesy, is against me: it is above all my qualification as a former enemy, which makes me feel like an accused person, that I have arrived here after the most influential among you have already formulated their conclusions in a long and laborious elaboration.[... ] I have the duty before the conscience of my country and to defend the vitality of my people to speak as an Italian, but I feel the responsibility and the right to speak also as an anti-fascist democrat, as a representative of the new Republic that, harmonising in itself the humanitarian aspirations of Giuseppe Mazzini ([an Italian 33rd degree Scottish Rite Freemason]), the universalist conceptions of Christianity and the internationalist hopes of the workers, is all directed towards that lasting and reconstructive peace that you seek and towards that cooperation between peoples that you have the task of establishing."

"There are many who only make a small excursion into politics, as amateurs, and others who regard it, and it is for them, as an accessory of secondary importance. But for me, ever since I was a boy, it was my career, my mission."

"A year ago Russia started full scale war against Ukraine, many doubted if Ukrainians would withstand. They did, their moral victory is great. Today many ask, if Ukraine can win militarily. The answer is yes and we must send more weapons, more help. Ruzzia delenda est"

"I fully support @EmmanuelMacron: we should not draw red lines for ourselves, we must draw red lines for Russia and we should not be afraid to enforce them. Ukraine must win, Russia must be defeated. Russia delenda est!"